


CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS: 32ND FINALS

by ABOOK5117



Category: Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes, Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Spectacular Spider-Man (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-09-25 01:26:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 81,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17111822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ABOOK5117/pseuds/ABOOK5117
Summary: The competition of survival between the Avengers and the Thunderbolts begins with the 32ND Finals of the Contest of Champions tournament, with each fighter from both teams now fighting all across the globe! Which team will take the lead?





	1. Chapter 1

_DISCLAIMER: CHARACTERS FROM SHOWS SUCH AS THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN, DEVELOPED BY GREG WEISMAN AND VICTOR COOK, AND AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES, DEVELOPED BY CIRO NEELI, JOSHUA FINE AND CHRISTOPHER YOST, ARE BOTH COPYRIGHT PROPERTY OF MARVEL COMICS ENTERTAINMENT. THEREFORE, THE PURPOSE OF THIS FAN MADE STORY IS FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY AND NO PROFIT IS BEING MADE FROM IT WHATSOEVER. IN OTHER WORDS....PLEASE DON'T SUE._  
  
  
**32ND FINALS: SPIDER-MAN VS. MAGUS**

The highlands of Scotland, a place where the large, green grassy hills were always a sight to behold. However, there was one sight that seemed to have caused a large population of Scottish natives to gather outside the laser 'ring ropes' that are stationed around three large hills, with a hill having a medieval styled castle built on top, as well as series of floating blocks creating a stairway going down a river. Moments later, two flashes of light occurred, and sure enough, both Spidey and Magus finally arrived, much to the cheers of of the Scottish crowd.

While Magus seemed indifferent to being transported to another country, Spidey is completely stunned as he looked around to see the land of Scotland, as well the cheering spectators. "What the-?!"

Suddenly, a Ref-Bot appeared and floated right in between the calm Magus and the surprised Spidey. Upon it's arrival between the two combatants, the Ref Bot's top flips open to revealed a screen with the announcer's smiling face on it. "Gentlemen, welcome to Scotland!"

Naturally, this only shocked the Web-Head even more, prompting him to ask him this, just to make sure that being teleported did cause the side effect of hallucinating . "Scotland?!"

"That's right," replied the announcer in his usual enthusiastic self. "And as far as the locale goes, you Magus to thank for that! For it was he who not requested that the first match of the tournament be in this country, but he was kind enough to designed this particular battle station."

Hearing this news only filled the Web-Head with dread and concern. _"Oh, goody."_

It was at this point that Magus decided to step to the Ref Bot and take 'center stage' in front of the Scottish spectators. "Yes, all while using my training in the mystic arts," he said in a voice that seemed to have a enchanted sound to it, but still coming off as boastful as his former Mysterio identity. As he continued, he quickly turned and pointed his left index finger "And it is through that training that I shall defeat this 'fake' hero and attain a victory! Not just for my fellow Thunderbolts, but for the entire world...including beautiful Scotland!"

While there were some Scotts who cheered for Magus' speech, most of them looked at him with both confused and aghast on how hokey he made himself look.

As for Spidey though, he just out a sigh as he placed his right hand over his face in embarrassment. _"Oh, how I want so badly to apologize to the Scottish people for putting up this dufus,"_ he thought to himself, but quickly realized he needed to focus on the match, and thus pulled his hand away so bend his neck and bend his knees to warm up. _"But, seeing is how I need to win this match, me kicking Beck's fake butt will have to serve as the best apology I can give."_

Moments later, the Ref-Bot, with the announcer's image still on screen, flew straight up into the air to create distance to between itself and the two fighters. Once it was at a safe enough height, a small compartment opened up in the Ref-Bot's base, and shot out two energy based balls, which in turn, formed a square and created a holographic screen that showed the image of Spidey and Magus squaring off for the natives who were not close enough to see the action. "Well then folks, let's not waste any more time!" the announcer told the crowd, as well as the millions of people watching around the world. "Let the first match of the Contest of Champions tournament...BEGIN!"

Hearing those words was music to Magus's ears, now being given the opportunity to finally defeat and humiliate Spidey in front of a worldwide audience. "Finally!" exclaimed the Thunderbolt, then made the first move by holding up and pointing his left hand at Spidey. _**"FIRE!"**_ he yelled in Latin, and suddenly, a ball of fire appeared in his palm, then shot itself out of his hand at high speeds and headed towards the Web-Head's belt buckle.

Fortunately for Spidey though, he spotted this and thus leaped into the air, dodging the fire ball. Moments later, he held his right hand upward and shot a web-line...which ends up going into the sky, causing Spidey's eyes to grow wide with realizing his mistake, the Web-Head soon acted by pointing both hands to the ground and shot two web-lines. Moments later, he zipped down and landed safely on the grassy ground in a crouching position, where he soon thought this to himself in embarrassment. _"Right, this is Scotland! Meaning that it has green grassy hills, and NO buildings to swing off of!"_

Even in missing his target, however, Magus still continued his attack by pointing his left hand upward, which is resulted in the fireball stopping in air, then though mental control, he directed the fireball to speed backward, heading straight towards the Web-Slinger's back.

But thanks to his spider-sense, Spidey is alerted by this sneak attack and avoided it by jumping and flipping backward, dodging the fireball ball, and causing it to head towards Magus instead.

The Thunderbolt, however, kept his left hand held. _**"SHIELD,"**_ he commanded, and moments later, and energy based, 'M' designed shield suddenly appeared over his hand and successfully blocked the fire ball, causing it to dissipate.

As for Spidey, he safely landed on his feet and once he got in a readied stance, looked straight ahead at Magus and narrowed his eyes at him. _"But regardless...not on your best day, Beck!"_

Magus noted the Web-Head standing ready to fight and thus gave him a smug smile behind his mask. "You thought you could just turn my own spells against me? Pathetic."

"Uh no, what's pathetic is that costume," Spidey quipped, ready and waiting for Magus to make the next move.

Before replying, Magus let out a scoff from Spidey's retort, then proceeded to levitate into the air. "Well, let's see how well your costume looks when it's colors change from red and blue...to charred black!" With that said, Magus quickly threw and pointed his right hand down at Spidey. _**"LIGHTNING!"**_ yelled the Thunderbolt, and at that moment, he managed to conjure up electricity and fires a bolt at the waiting Wall-Crawler.

Naturally, Spidey saw it coming and thus jumped and flipped forward to dodge it. "Really, Beck?" said the Web-Head upon landing on his feet. "Still with the Latin?"

Magus felt more irritation building inside him upon hearing Spidey's insult. "You dare insult the language of magic?!" he asked the Web-Head as he 'kept in character' as his new heroic identity. As such, he kept his right hand pointed at he Wall-Crawler to keep him in his sights. _**"LIGHTNING!"**_

After seeing Magus fire another bolt, Spidey quickly dashed to the side to successfully dodge it, allowing it to hit the ground and leave a black, smoking spot instead. "Oh, don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against Latin," replied the Web-Head, then jumped and flipped forward to avoid another incoming lightning bolt. "It's just when you do it, it seems to say: 'I hope that by speaking it, people will think I sound cool and will ignore that I'm wearing a costume so hokey, it makes my old green and purple costume with the fishbowl helmet look dignified in comparison!"

"ENOUGH!" yelled the now enraged Magus, completely fed up with his enemy's mouth. Afterwards, he raised both his hands high above his head and looked up into the sky. "To me...Homunculi!" At that moment, green smoke appeared around the blue and white Thunderbolt, and moments later, a swarm of small, purple winged demons popped out, all cackling maniacally.

Spidey instantly recognized these small from his last fight with Beck when he was Mysterio, and thought he knew they were really small robots, he still let out a worried groan, remembering how much of a handful they were when he fought them the first time. "Oh no, not those things again!"

As for the Scottish audience, they were left in shock and awe. Some amazed with how Magus brought them in, like they were part of a disappearing act for a magic show. While others, more specifically, children and older spectators looked frightened, as if the small winged creatures resembled the monsters from Scottish lore.

One he saw that he had both Spidey and the crowd's attention, Magus pointed his finger down at the Web-Head, and thus the Homunculi all flew towards the Web-Slinger, all laughing on the way.

Thankfully, Spidey proved to be ready as he leaned back sideways to the left to avoid one Homunculi coming his way, then as he stood straight up, he threw a right handed backhand strike, hitting another Homunculi and causing it to explode in a puff of green smoke, as well as feeling the steel machinery it was composed of, reminding the Web-Head of what he already knew. _"Still just a bunch of tech and smoke and mirrors,"_ he thought. _"But instead of going to Vegas, you're using these skills to help a psycho like Osborn, all the while 'pretending' to be a hero like an actor playing a part."_ Spidey spotted another Homunculi flying towards him, and then acted by hopping up and kicks both of his feet onto it's back, which not only destroyed it, but he also used it as a boost to to jump up into the air. He spotted more of these winged robots coming his way, and kicked them as well, using them as make-shift stepping stones on his way to the airborne Magus himself. _"Whereas as I'M as real as it gets!"_

Before Spidey could reach Magus, he is stopped when four more Homunculi grabbed the Web-Head by his arms, then flew him away from the Thunderbolt with speeds equal to that of a fighter jet. Moments later, they fly the Web-Head towards the castle on top of one of the hills, then slam him spine first into stone wall, where they then released him and allow him to fall to the ground below.

Fortunately though, despite being in immense pain, Spidey managed to stop himself by quickly placing his left hand on the wall and manages to stick to and dangle to the stone surface. _"Oh, if I didn't hate those little guys before!"_ thought the Web-Head, annoyed on how the Homunculi stopped him from tackling Magus and winning the match. Moments later, he noticed Magus hovering in the air across from him, with all of the remaining Homunculi accompanying him. This prompts Spidey to shake his head to regain his focus, then place his right hand up over his hand and onto the wall, then with his upper body strength, performs a somewhat back handspring on the wall, where his feet stick to the surface and he is now fully clinging to the wall, despite the process taking a toll on his back.

For Magus, he could hear the 'oohs and ahhs' from the crowd below, not from his 'magic' and showmanship, but instead, from seeing Spidey's both resilience and agility. As such, this causes the Thunderbolt's patience for his opponent to run out, and with his laughing minions surrounding him, he points his finger at the Web-Head and gives command. "Attack, my minions!" With that order, the cackling Homunculi all flew towards the Wall-Crawler at full force.

However, Spidey manged to fight back with new and daring tactic. In that he jumps off of the wall, and upon pointing both of his hands at the 'cloud' of Homunculi, shot a large massive web from out of both web-shooters and successfully ensnared all of the winged robots in a 'web-bag'. Moments later, Spidey made his move by flipping forward while still holding on to his end of the web-bag, thus swinging it around in an overhead circle, and hits Magus on top of his head, which resulted in the captured Homuncculi to explode on impact, thus creating a large cloud of green smoke, as well as sending Magus himself down to the ground hard.

The Web-Head's counter attack is seen by not just the astonished natives watching behind the energy ropes...but also by the crowd in Madison Square Garden, watching the match via the large screen. As the crowd cheered at the action, the Thunderbolts watched the match in anger on how Magus was struggling, while the Avengers looked one looking quite pleased was fairing.

Even Hawkeye, one of the Avengers who were skeptic about Spidey being a part-time member of the team, seemed a little impressed. "Well, I gotta admit, the kid's lasting allot longer that I thought he would." The archer admitted reluctantly.

As the Avengers looked on, both Wasp and Cap looked more worried about the Wall-Crawler's well-being, with Cap himself silently thinking this as the continued to watch the match. _"Stay on your toes, son."_

Back in Scotland, Spidey is now literally sky-diving down towards the now recovering Magus.

Once he saw the Web-Head coming his way, Magus decided to save himself by quickly saying this. **" _CLONE!"_** With that command, Magus' suit started to glow, and as he quickly flew backward, it left behind a glowing silhouette in the shape of his very body, which in turn hardened to a crystal-like 'clone' statue of the Thunderbolt himself.

Needless to say, this surprised Spidey while he was in the air, and with his instincts kicking in, he flipped forward and planted his feet on the clone statue itself, using it as a way to break his fall, but in the process, caused it to shatter. After landing on his feet, Spidey looked up to see Magus floating over hand and thus pointed both of his hands up and shot two web-lines at his hovering opponent in hopes of ensnaring him and zipping up over to him.

However, Magus saw the Web-Head coming his way, and thus used both of his hands to catch the web-lines, and keeping a tight hold on them, flew straight up into the air, pulling the Web-Slinger with him and taking him for a ride. Once he got high enough, Magus quickly stopped and waited until Spidey was up to his level Upon coming face to face with the bewildered Web-Head, Magus held up both hands in front of his web-slinging enemy. _**"FIRE!"**_

Once he saw that he was in trouble, Spidey acted fast by putting his hands together, then shot more webbing to create a web-made shield which protected his upper-body, and more importantly, his belt buckle. It wasn't long before Magus shot the fireball, but, the web-shield blocked it, but the impact was so strong, it sent Spidey hurtling towards the medieval-styled castle on top of one the hills below. Desperate to save himself, Spidey released what was left of his charred web-shield, then once he was close enough, shot a web-line at the castle, more specifically, a roman designed chair. Once the web-line made it's mark by hitting and sticking to a spot on the floor that was right beside the chair's leg, the Web-Slinger zipped downward and crashed into the chair, which did break his fall, but at the same time, crumbled completely. As for Spidey himself, he rolled on the floor before finally stopping outside of what appeared to be the castle's courtyard. After such a rough landing, the Wall-Crawler shook his head, then checked his belt buckle to see if it was damaged, and to his relieve, it wasn't.

However, this action in saving himself did result in leaving Spidey sore, as he felt his back ache as he tried to get back up on his feet. "Okay," said the Web-Head, holding his lower back as he sat up. "I am now officially out ways to say...'ow'." Suddenly, the Wall-Crawler regained his focus in the match when he felt his spider-sense tingle once more, which prompted him to shoot a web-line from his left hand and hitting one of the pillars on the left side, to which he quickly web-zipped over to and in turn, avoided Magus when he came flying in and used both of his feet to try and stomp the Web-Slinger into the floor, causing the Thunderbolt to make a large crack instead.

Annoyed that he missed his target, Magus looked straight ahead at Spidey, who by this time was now clinging to the pillar, and let out a loud grunt as his hands began to glow. "It is time to end this, arachnid!"

An equally determined Spidey uses his feet to stay on the pillar he put both of his hands in web-shooting fashion as he got in a defensive stance. "Nice to know that we finally agree something."

Moments later, Magus quickly made his move by flying towards Spidey and throws his left leg out in a side kick motion, intending to kick the Web-Head through the pillar.

Upon seeing this attack coming, Spidey quickly jumped off of the pillar and flipped over Magus, allowing the Thunderbolt to kick the pillar off of its hinges instead. After landing on his feet, Spidey spun around, held up his right hand and shot a web-line at Magus to ensnare him.

Unfortunately, Magus was also quick enough to recover as he turned and held up his right hand. **_"SHIELD,"_** he commanded, and thus created another energy shield which both blocked and dissipated the webbing when it made contact. Afterwards, he pulled his shielded right hand back and extended his left hand. **_"LIGHTNING!"_** yelled Magus, and at that moment, shot a lightning bolt out of his open palm, aiming for the Wall-Crawler himself.

Luckily though, Spidey jumped and flipped over to the left side in a corkscrew motion and avoided the blast, and after avoiding the bolt, he shot another web-line, which strangely, sped right past Magus' head and instead hits a small dragon statue. At that moment, the Web-Head yanked hard on his end, and thus pulled the statue towards the back of his caped enemy's head.

However, Magus looked over his shoulder, mostly out of confusion as to why the webbing missed his face, and upon seeing the statue coming his way, threw a left handed back-fist, hitting a destroying the statue before it could even touch him. He later deduced that this served as a distraction, and upon turning around, he saw the Web-Head himself leaping towards him. As such, the Thunderbolt pulling his cape over him in a somewhat over dramatic fashion and mysteriously disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Fortunately for Spidey, however, he is able to land on his feet and got in a defensive stance, knowing that whenever Beck tried a disappearing act, it usually meant that he was going to try and catch him off guard and thus had to be ready. "Come on, Beck, don't embarrass the both of us with you using some cheap magic trick," said the Web-Head in a condescending tone, hoping to get his enemy so riled up, he'll give away his position. "Especially since you should know by now that it's not going to work on me!"

"Oh, who said I was hiding?" replied the disembodied voice of Magus. "I'm simply just wanting to make a grand entrance for my friends." At that moment, more smoke appeared out of nowhere, and as it cleared, it showed not one...but five Magus's, all of which quickly surrounded the Web-Slinger.

Back in New York, Magus's latest move is seen by a stunned and astounded audience, not to mention the shocked and worried Avengers. So much so that the Wasp headed over to the announcer, who by this time had his hand over his ear tying to listen to the person who was speaking for the judges watching in one of the building's boxes. "Hey," asked the Wasp in an angry tone. "You call that fair?! It's five on one!"

"I know, ma'am, and I'm trying to find out...wait!" the announcer soon heard the judges decision, and thus turned size altering founding Avenger. "Excuse me," he told her, then quickly turned to the audience. "Ladies and gentlemen, I have just been informed by officials that since Magus's multiplying ability is in fact part of his powers, and not any of his teammates, it does not count as outside interference, and thus, the match can continue."

Naturally, this announcement didn't sit well with the Avengers, and it is the agitated Wasp who is the most vocal about it. "Seriously?! Are you kidding me?!"

Another Avenger not taking this announcement well was that of Iron Man, who looked up at the screen to see the image of Spidey being surrounded the five Magus's and though his faceplate prevent people from seeing it, he was actually quite worried. "Hang in there, kid."

Back in Scotland, Spidey is seen standing ready for any attack from on of the Magus's. "Gee, robot doubles again?" he quipped, trying to hide his nervousness. "Gotta say, pal, I was hoping for something a little bit new."

Suddenly, one of the Magus's that was standing across from Spidey charged towards the Web-Head with his right fist cocked back as if he was about to throw a punch.

Naturally, Spidey spotted this and thus jumped forward and threw a left legged scissors-kick, which strangely enough, passed right throw the attacking Magus! Needless to say, this surprised to the Web-Slinger enough to make him stumble briefly before barely managing to land on his feet, trying to comprehend what just happened. However, Spidey is brought out of his confusion via his spider-sense, but sadly, he was not quick enough to react to another Magus charging in from the right side and landing a hard right cross to the Wall-Crawler's jaw, knocking him loopy and causing him to stagger aimlessly into another Magus on the left side, who in turned delivered a left legged axe-kick and nailed the Web-Head in the face, sending him up into the air and crashing down back first into the floor. "Okay..." said the dazed and pain-ridden Spidey. "I'll admit...that was a little new." As the Web-Head laid there disoriented, he snapped back to reality when he felt his spider-sense tingle once again, prompting him to look up and see two Magus's looking down upon him with their fists cocked back and both threw punches with the intent of destroying his belt buckle. Acting fast, Spidey placed both of his hands next to both sides of his head and brought his knees into his chest, blocking the Magus's punches with the bottom of his feet. Then, the Web-Head pushed his upwards with his hands, while at the same time, kicked his feet up, which not only pushed the two Magus's away from him, but with the added momentum, allowed Spidey to propel himself in the air and land on his feet in a defensive posture.

Once he recovered, Spidey noticed that the two Magus's that he kicked away were now levitating in the air, while through the corner of his eye, saw another one coming towards him from the right side. As such, the Web-Head instinctively threw a left legged round kick, but just as before, this attack seemed to phase though the attacking Magus, leaving Spidey completely baffled as he right foot landed and barely staying on his feet. Moments later, Spidey was once again alerted by his spider-sense, and thus looked up to see another Magus in the air and coming down at him feet first, intending to stomping on the Wall-Crawler's head. Now aware of this attack, Spidey put both of his arms up on an 'X' fashion, succeeding in blocking the head stomp attempt and pushed the Magus back up into the air.

However, even with his attack thwarted, the airborne Magus managed to save himself by flipping backward, and once he recovered, he held up his hands above his head and made them burn a reddish colored fire. From then on, the Thunderbolt dived downward, with the plan of plunging his fire consumed hands into the Wall-Crawler's belt buckle.

Easily spotting this, Spidey jumped and flipped backward, casing the diving Magus to ram his fiery hands into the floor instead. Unfortunately for the Web-Head, while he was in mid-air, he received a flying into his right side by another Magus, sending him flying and landing hard in the center of the courtyard. As the Web-Head stood up, while holding his right side in pain, Spidey looked around to see all five of the Magus's standing confidently right in front of him. "Is that fear we sense in you, Wall-Crawler?" they asked in unison, all sounding arrogant while keeping up with their theatrical facade. "If so, why don't have yourself further humiliation by surrendering?"

Suddenly, Spidey felt inspired by hearing the cocky Magus's say a very specific word. _"Sense...? That's it!"_ thought the Web-Head. _"Need to pay closer attention to my spider-sense, the very thing that helped me get past his cheap tricks before!"_ With that revelation, the Wall-Crawler takes a defensive stance and thus proceeds to goad Magus's into attacking him. "Sorry Beck, but giving up has never been my forte. Just like how being a good dresser isn't yours."

"Have it your way," said all of the Magus's, then one of them charged towards Spidey with his right fist cocked back.

However, Spidey prepared for this by closing his eyes and relaxing his muscles, all so he can properly wait for his spider-sense to guide him. Once the charging Magus finally approached, he threw a right hook, and thus phased straight through the calm Web-Head, proving that it was fake. Moments later, another Magus came running up, then jumped up and threw a right legged flying kick at Spidey's head.

Luckily, upon feeling his spider-sense kick on, Spidey quickly grabbed the airborne Magus's ankle and with great force, slammed him chest first into the floor and what surprised everyone watching, caused the Thunderbolt to fall apart into metallic, electricity spewing pieces, revealing itself to be a robot double. And most shocking of all, this also caused the last Magus that attacked Spidey before to vanish out of thin air. Spidey, with his eyes still closed, stood ready for another attack attack, and it wasn't long before another Magus made his move by holding up both of his hands.

_**"LIGHTENING!"**_ he yelled, and fired a lightning bolt at the standing and motionless Wall-Crawler. _**  
**_

However, Spidey did not fell his spider-sense tingle when this happened and thus stood perfectly still, thus allowing the lighting blast to harmless phase right through him. As this happened, another Magus jumped up in front of the Wall-Crawler, then held his right fist over his head and threw a hammer blow as he came down, with the idea of basing the Web-Slinger's head and knocking him out. Fortunately for the patient Spidey though, this triggered his spider-sense and thus prompted him to hold his right arm over his hand to block the blow. As he opened his eyes to face the attacking Magus, Spidey clinched his left fist and threw a hard middle punch into the Thunderbolt's belt buckle, which resulted the Web-Head plowing his fist through his torso and actually tearing the Magus in two, revealing wires and steel plating underneath, revealing another body double. As Spidey looked down at Magus's still twitiching torso, it showed what appeared to be a small holographic projector in it's shoulder, and that it was still projecting a the now static filled image of the Magus that shot a lighting blast from earlier. _"So, using bots that project holographic images,"_ thought Spidey. _"Good ol' predicable Beck,"_

Suddenly, Spidey's attention is soon directed to the last remaining, and REAL Magus, looked down in despair at his destroyed doubles. "No, NO! NOT THIS!" he yelled hysterically, then looked straight ahead at Spidey with a murderous look in his eye. "I WILL NOT BE EMBARRASSED BY YOU AGAIN!"

As for Spidey himself, he just stood their with his hands on his hips and looking at the distraught Magus with a mixture of disappointment and pity. "Actually, to be fair, you don't really need my help in the embarrassing you. You seem to be just fine doing it yourself."

Meanwhile, back below the highlands, the Scottish audience watch Spidey easily handle the Magus bots via the large holo-screen, and were all impressed at the Web-Head's skills. "Well, I'll say this about this Spider-Man," said once spectator, a middle aged bearded man. "The lad's got plenty of wit and spirit."

"Oh Aye," replied a blonde hair man around the same age. "And a hell of allot better than that bampot in the cape! Just talkin' pish instead of fightin'."

The fight was also seen back in New York, were as the audience all clapped and cheered and approval, the Thunderbolts looked concerned, and the Avengers all looked relieved and pleased at Spidey's performance. One in particular was that of Wolverine, who looked on with his arms crossed as he watch the match intently. "Hmmmm...not bad. But can the Web-Head finish this?"

Iron Man, on the other hand, answered this while still looking, and smirking at the screen. "Well, considering that Beck is one of the kid's enemies, I wouldn't doubt it."

Iron Fist, while impressed with Spidey's performance, knew that the fight wasn't over yet and thus was still skeptical if Spidey could win, especially with how well Magus did earlier in the match. "We'll soon see."

Back in the Scotland, as in the courtyard of the castle, Spidey and Magus now find themselves in a stand off, with Spidey now more confident in winning this match. "Well Beck, looks like you're the one who needs to give up!" he told his old enemy. "So go ahead and do it, and I'll let you keep some of your dignity...as if you had any to begin with."

Now furious, as well as scared of losing the opportunity to which Osborn granted him, Magus soon extended his right hand with the Web-Head now in his sights. **_"LIGHTNING!"_ **he screamed as he fired a bolt of Spidey.

Luckily, the Wall-Crawler ducked sideways to the right to avoid the bolt coming his way, and after letting pass above him, he secretly aimed his right hand at Magus's face while bent down, then shot a small web-ball which ended up hitting and covering the Thunderbolt's eyes, blinding him. After standing back up, Spidey noticed through the corner of his left eye to see one of the broken arms of one of the destroyed Magus bots, which gives the Web-Head an idea. As such, he pointed his right hand to the left side, shot a web-line, successfully ensnared the arm and threw it at the still struggling Magus. This tactic soon paid off, for the disembodied robotic arm made a direct hit on Magus's belt buckle, shattering it and causing a yellow energy field to surround the blinded Thunderbolt, freezing him in place and causing him to fall to the floor.

A sight in which was seen by the Ref Bot, which transmitted the image to the Scottish spectators down below the hill, as well as the people of New York and views around the globe. "Well folks," said the announcer via the screen on both the Ref-Bot and holo screen below. "I think it's safe to say that this match is over! Moments later, the Ref Bot soon floated over to the still standing Spidey, as well surprising him a little. "The winner of the first match of the 32nd Finals...SPIDER-MAN!"

This announcement caused the Scottish spectators to cheer in approval, all in which caused the now victorious Web-Head to walk over to the edge of the castle and look down to see the crowd below cheering for him, something in which surprised him greatly. "Wow...cheers from a grateful crowd," said the stunned Web-Head with a smile behind his mask. "If only I got this reception in the Big Apple."

**WINNER: SPIDER-MAN**


	2. Chapter 2

**PERSONAL**

The Wall-Crawler's victory in Scotland is shown worldwide, especially those present in the Garden, to which caused the crowd to all cheer in approval. However, not everyone shared such jubilation, for in the top floor of the Daily Bugle, the staff all tried their best to deal with the angry outburst of J. Jonah Jameson, who like all of them, just witnessed Spidey's win in Scotland and clearly was not happy about it. "FIXED! THE WHOLE THING WAS FIXED!" roared the enraged Jonah, with his face bright red and his voice loud enough for everyone in the entire building could hear. "WHO DID THAT WALL-CRAWLING BRIBE IN ORDER TO WIN THAT?! ROBBIE, GET BRANT TO FIND OUT WHO!"

Robbie rolled his eyes at this order, having long since gotten used to his boss's wrath, but just to prevent him from having a heart attack, pulled out his cellphone and began to dial Betty's number. "On it, Jonah."

Back in Madison Square Garden, Spidey has arrived back on the stage via the teleportation pad, and is welcomed back with a standing ovation from a pleased audience. Among the people happy for the Wall-Crawler was that of Gwen Stay, who saw Spidey's return from her skybox, and even though she barely knew him, she remembered how Spidey saved her life from Doctor Octopus when he kidnapped her on New Year's Eve, and from that experience, knew that he was a true hero. And thus, she smiled a little as she watched him being approached and congratulated by his fellow Avengers.

One of those Avengers was that of the Wasp, who by this time grew to her human size so she can run in and hug Spidey happily. "Spidey, you were amazing!"

Another person who shared Wasp's point of view was that of a smiling Cap, who placed his hand on the Web-Head's shoulder. "I second that."

Moments later, the ever vibrant Thor stepped in to voice his approval of Spidey's performance. "As do I!" he said loudly and with his hammer raised. "Well done, Man of Spiders!"

Spidey couldn't help but feel honored with having the Earth's Mightiest Heroes all gathered around and phrasing him, but looked straight ahead to see Hawkeye, with his arms crossed and looking somewhat reluctant. That is until finally, the archer sighed and approached the Wall-Crawler by saying this. "Not bad, kid."

"Wow...thanks," said an astounded Spidey to Hawkeye, as well as the rest of the Avengers, but as he looked around, he noticed that the Thunderbolts are angered by Magus's loss, but as for Magus himself, he is nowhere to be found. "Hey, where's Beck? I'd thought he would be here too."

At this point, Iron Man decided to answer the curious Web-Head. "Not sure kid. But wherever he is, I wouldn't want to be in his shoes right now."

Meanwhile, inside the bridge of the S.H.I.E.L.D. helocarrier, an unmasked Beck is seen handcuffed and being taken to a holding cell by two agents, all the while observed by Maria, not looking the least bit pleased with how Beck performed in his match. Moments later, she looks back at the big screen to see the announcer walking towards the Iron Patriot, and looking forward to see how her boss has to say in order to cover up Beck's newly revealed fake magic.

And back in the Garden, the announcer finally approached the armored leader of the Thunderbolts. "Well Iron Patriot, you and your teammates must be quite concerned on how the Avengers took the first point over your team?" he asked somewhat cautiously as he held the microphone to the Patriot to allow him to speak.

Sure enough, the Patriot answered the announcer, and the fans, while keeping a calm demeanor. "We are, but I can assure you, we'll bounce back. But before that, I would like to take this moment to inform to the people in the audience, especially those who are supporting us, that we are both shocked, as well as embarrassed, over the regards of Magus. When he signed up, he had informed us that he had studied under REAL wizards and other practitioners of the mystic arts, but as we found out, that is not the case. Therefore, I can assure you that he will be dealt with properly," as he continued, the Patriot turned his attention to the next Thunderbolt fighting next, the Silver Samurai. "And also be rest assured that the Silver Samurai is as real as it gets!"

This answer left the announcer a bit intimidated by both the Patriot's stern words, as well as the imposing figure. "Hey, you have a believer in me," he said with a smile, trying to mask his fear, then turned his attention back to the crowd. "And with that in mind folks, let's keep the show running! For it is now time for our second match-up! And this time, we have the Avengers' clawed Wolverine going up against the Thunderbolts fierce ronin, the Silver Samurai!"

Hearing this announcement caused both and Silver Samurai look at each other from across their respected teams, and they gave each other a hate filled stare, but with the feral X-Man himself literally growling in rage.

Something in which concerned Cap greatly, for he remembered back in the days of when he and Wolverine fought together in the war and whenever his old comrade growled, it was never a good thing. "You two know each other, Logan?"

Before Wolverine could answer that, he noticed something up above the stadium, and more specifically, in a skybox. As he looked up, he saw that it was a beautiful but sad Japanese woman in a business suit, one in which Wolverine recognized and mad him let out a somewhat saddened sigh. "Yeah, but...it's personal, Rogers."

Cap could since the genuine sadness in the usual tough mutant's voice, and thus chose to respect his privacy. "Fair enough," he told him, but felt compelled to still tell him this. "But just remember not to take it personal enough to slice him to pieces."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Wolverine irritably replied. "Doesn't mean I like it though."

Finally, the announcer turned his attention to both Wolverine and the Silver Samurai, ready to get the next match underway. "Now then, gentlemen, if you will please come to the teleportation pads so we can begin the match."

With that said, both Wolverine and the Silver Samurai comply, and both men walked over to the pads, and upon stepping on them, they vanish and are transported out of the arena and to an unknown location to have their fight, one in which both men were looking forward to for quite some time.

Meanwhile, back in the desert, another battle was taking place, but it was between the original green Hulk and the vengeful Red Hulk, both of whom were trading punches which upon making contact, made explosive echoes which could be heard for miles. Finally, after taking one of the Red Hulk's right hooks to the face, the growling Hulk saw his red skinned opponent about to throw a left hook, thus he held up his massive left arm to successfully block the punch, and upon seeing an opening, clinched his right fist and delivered a hard right uppercut to the Red Hulk's jaw, one which was powerful enough to send him flying a few feet up in the air.

The Red Hulk then landed with a thunderous crash, which ended up shaking the earth itself. After getting back up onto his feet, he shook his head and heard the Hulk's rage filled scream coming up from above. This caused him to look up, and see the Jade Giant coming down with his arms over his head so he can bash the Red Hulk into the ground. As such, the Red Hulk quickly held up both arms and successfully blocked the green Hulk's attack, with the impact being so powerful, it created a huge crater in the dry desert ground. Afterwards, the red skinned monster responded by giving his green opponent a fierce head-butt to his face, knocking him loopy. With the Hulk staggering backward in a daze, the Red Hulk ran in and delivered a hard right legged front kick to the Green Goliath's abdomen, one that was powerful enough to send him flying backward, then landing and rolling violently on the ground. The Red Hulk did not stop there, however, for he then leaped up high in to the air, then stomped both of his feet into his green enemy's chest, creating another creator with a loud crash. Now in control and pinning his opponent down, the Red Hulk began punching the Hulk's face again and again, all while having a huge sadistic grin.

After delivering one hard right straight punch to the disoriented Hulk's face one final time, the Red Hulk sat up, grabbed his dazed opponent by his shoulders and threw him several yards away...and flying towards what was left of the Cube!

The Hulk crashed through the prison wall and ended up in one of the now many empty cells. As he saw up and held his throbbing head, the Hulk looked forward and saw the Red Hulk charging towards him at full speed. And so, with a loud snort and now angrier than ever, the Hulk got back up on his feet and ran towards the Red Hulk at full force.

As the two Hulks sped towards one another, the Green Hulk pulled his right fist, while the Red wound back his left. Once they got close enough to one another, both behemoths throw their punches, and their fists collided, creating a shockwave that was so strong, it caused the ruins of the Cube to shake and caused the building itself tumble on top of the two giants. At first, there was nothing but silence after the abandoned Cube prison was reduced to nothing but rubble, until finally, the Hulk is seen bursting out of the debris, but only because he was knocked from out off of the ground and high into the air.

Back down below, the Red Hulk is seen with his right fist up after he delivered a powerful uppercut to his green skinned opponent, and smiled as he watched the Hulk up in the sky. "You won't beat me this time, monster!" bellowed the Red Hulk, grinning maniacally. "After all these years, it's now to time finish you, once and for all!" With that declaration, the Red Hulk leaped into the air in pursuit of the flying Hulk, with the intent of ending their grudge match...permanently.


	3. Chapter 3

**32ND FINALS: WOLVERINE VS. SILVER SAMURAI**

High above the city streets of Tokyo, Japan, where the spectators crowd the sidewalks two flashes of light soon appeared on one particular rooftop. As it turned out, the flashes were that of both Wolverine and Samurai arrived for their battle, and with a stationed Ref Bot arriving in between them. Their arrival also sparked cheers from the people, whether from those in the streets below watching from the holo-screen floating above them, as well as from the people watching the two mutants from the windows inside the taller buildings around the rooftop to which they were standing on.

Normally for Wolverine, his arrival in Japan would be a relaxing and somewhat joyous occasion, namely that in all of his adventures, he always considered the Land of the Rising Sun to be his home away from home. But with one of his most hated enemies standing right across from him, that obviously was not the case.

Nevertheless, the Ref-Bot remained in between the two warriors, with the announcer's face on the screen to explain the rules. "Now then, gentlemen, please bare in mind that while you are allowed to use your bladed weapons, I must emphasize that you use them to take out opponent's belt buckle, NOT kill on another. Understood?" After receiving no answers from either man, the announcer finally sent out a mental command to the Ref Bot to fly straight up in the air and say the words that got all spectators into a frenzy. "Well then, LET THE MATCH BEGIN!"

With that said, the Silver Samurai does not hesitate to pull out his katana, concentrated and charged his blade with energy, causing it burn with fire. "I have waited a long time for this moment, Logan-san!" he said getting into a readied sword fighting stance.

As the growling Wolverine gave Silver Samurai a death glare...

_...he flashed back to when he was standing in front of a Yasida clan headquarters building, and was not dressed as the X-Man Wolverine...but instead was dressed in a traditional Japanese hakama as the lone warrior Logan, with katana by his side and ready to duel._ _The Silver Samurai was also present that day, but out of his armor and also dressed in a traditional hakama as the Yakuza member, Kenuichio Harada, and ready to take on Logan._ _As both men stood across from one another, as well as four Japanese men in business suits, two from the Yakuza and the other two being Yashida Clan members, watching the duel, both Logan and Harada pulled out their katanas and charged towards one another..._

...back in the present, the now uniformed Wolverine only has this to say to his armored foe. "Bub, that makes two of us!" With that grim reply, Wolverine held up both of hist fists and popped out his adamantium claws.

Once he saw the feral mutant prepare himself, the Samurai soon charged forward with his burning blade, letting out a battle cry in the process. Once he got close enough, the Samurai made the first move by bringing his katana to the left side and go for a downward slash, aiming for his belt-buckle.

Fortunately for Wolverine, however, he spotted this attack coming and threw his claws in both hands down in an 'X' fashion to block the Samurai's blade, as well as side step to the right side.

But even after that attack was deflected, the Samurai continued his assault by spinning around swinging his katana around a horizontal motion, once again aiming for Wolverine's belt buckle.

Luckily, the feral mutant anticipated this a stepped backward to save his buckle from getting slash, unfortunately though, the burning blade still managed to hit his abdomen, which cut his shirt as well as cut the flesh from underneath. Wolverine naturally grunted in pain and held his cut while backing away, but as he pulled his hand to look at it, he could see that his mutant healing factor has already done it's job and closed up the wound.

This moment did not go unseen by the Ref Bot, who then flew right in between the two combatants, and more importantly, the screen showing the announcer's face and pointed right at the Samurai himself. "Whoa! That was too close, Samurai!" said the concerned announcer. "Remember, concentrate on slicing your opponent's belt buckle, not your opponent himself! Got it?"

The Samurai let out a annoyed grunt at the announcer, but for the sake of keeping his 'bargain' with Osborn, he gave him an understanding bow. "A mistake on my part, I admit. And for that, I apologize and will have better control of my attacks."

The announcer accepted this as a fair answer from the Samurai, and thus commanded the Ref Bot to fly back up into the air and allow the match to continue.

As Wolverine got back into his fighting stance, he couldn't help but be curious about the Samurai humble 'performance.' "What gives Harada? What turned you into Osborn's lackey?"

Feeling insult by how Wolverine words, the Samurai raised his katana over his head, charged towards him and went for an overhead slash to cut the X-Man's belt-buckle in half. Unfortunately for him, Wolverine utilized his claws once more by holding up high in an 'X' fashion once more and blocked the slash. However, the Samurai continued to press down on his katana, engaging in somewhat of a power struggle with his old enemy, but this did not stop him by slowly leaning in and whispering this into his ear. "Do not misunderstand me, Gajin," he hissed bitterly. "I could care less about Osborn, much less his little game. However, he informed me that if I merely defeated you according to the rules of this match, he will give a me a chance to personally finish you and reclaim my honor once the tournament is over!"

While trying to keep the Samurai's blade away from his person, Wolverine only let out a snort. "Honor?!" he asked defiantly. "I fought you long enough to know that that word don't suit you, bub!"

With a rage filled cry, the Samurai pushed Wolverine backward, and as he watched the mutant stagger back, he threw a right low rising slash at his belt buckle, only for Wolverine to see it and use the claws in his right hand to block the blade once more with expert timing and push it upward to the left side. However, determined to not give up, the Samurai continued his assault by bring his sword up and going for a left downward slash.

Luckily for Wolverine, however, he used the claws in his left hand to block the blade and push it outward, then made his move by taking his clawed right hand and throws a middle punch, with the intent of darting the tip of his claws into his armored foe's belt buckle to win the match.

However, the Samurai anticipated this and thus held his blade upside down in a vertical angle, successfully blowing his enemy's claw slash. Afterwards, he pulled his blade back, charged it with energy, then held his blade up high and went for yet another downward slash, only for Wolverine to spot it and side-step to the right, avoiding it and allowing the Samurai to hit nothing but air. Now frustrated, the Samurai turned to feral mutant and went for a rising left upward slash.

Ever alert, Wolverine quickly stepped backward to avoid the slash, but saw the persistent Samurai coming towards him with a right downward slash, thus forcing the X-Man to throw up his right arm and use his claws to the block the attack.

This did not stop the now angry Samurai, however, and thus pulled his burning blade back and throw an overhead slash from the left side.

Fortunately, Wolverine quickly held up his left claws to successfully block the slash, and with his right leg, threw a front kick, hoping to shatter the Samurai's belt buckle and end this match.

The Samurai, on the other hand, proved to be just as quick on his feet and stepped to the left side to dodge the kick. Moments later, he spotted Wolverine throwing a left backhanded claw slash, and not only did he hold up his blade to bock the X-Man's attack, but also responded by throwing a right legged side-kick into his left side, causing the clawed mutant to stagger backward.

Wolverine barely managed to stop himself, but ended up near the edge of the roof. To make matters worse, he saw the Samurai now running towards him, and acting fast, he hopped up onto the ledge, and once he saw the Samurai throwing a horizontal left sided slash, he jumped and flipped over his armored foe's blade, saving his belt buckle if not his entire torso.

Meanwhile, back in New York, the audience inside the Garden all cheered for the action taking place in Japan, but on spectator, that of the Japanese woman watching the fight from the sky box, watched the match with a mixture of worry and sadness.

One other person in the box, a Japanese man in a business suit, honorably bowed to the woman before addressing her. "Mariko-san, would you like some refreshments?" he asked her in their native Japanese?"

"No, thank you," replied Mariko, still focused on the screen. As she watch the fight, she watched more closely at Wolverine, who at this point in the match leaned back to avoid another sword slash . And seeing him in much peril took her back...

_...To her native Japan, where she, in a traditional Japanese kimono, was at the same Yashida headquarters building, and was talking to Logan on the left side of the room before his match against Harada," Logan-San, please don't do this!" Mariko pleaded, her hands on his chest._

_"Sorry, Darlin, but it's too late to turn back now," Logan replied, then gently grabbed her hands and looked into her eyes. "I will win this, Mariko, and I'll finally free you from that damn coward Harada! I promise!" With that said, Logan slowly backed away from the new teary-eyed Mariko then walked over to engage Harara in duel that would decide with man will take Mariko's hand in marriage..._

...and the most painful part of that memory for Mariko was that the end result was Harada beating Logan, the man she truly loved, and thus was forced to by his side in marriage. And as she watched the match, she worried even more for Logan, and hoped that he wouldn't let his hatred for her now husband, the Silver Samurai, to make him do something that he would regret.

Back in Japan, the match between Wolverine and the Silver Samurai continued to heat up, as energized steel clashed with adamantium claws. Finally, it is Wolverine who gained the upper hand by using the claws in both of his hands to block an incoming overhead slash from the Samurai then pushed him up against the ledge. Now in control, the feral X-Man took the claws in his left hand and thrust them forward in a middle punch fashion, aiming for his enemy's belt buckle.

It was an attack that the Samurai spotted and thus threw a left downward slash, blocking and pushing the claws down to the right side, allowing the armored yakuza member to move past Wolverine's left side, and causing the feral X-Man himself to tumble forward and nearly go over the edge. As Wolverine just barely managed to stop himself from going over the roof and keep his balance, the Samurai stopped, spun around and waited for the mutant to turn and face him. Once he and Wolverine were face to face, the Samurai pulled out another surprise attack by throwing a right legged sidekick, nailing the X-Man in the mouth and sending him falling over the ledge.

As he fell, Wolverine looked down and saw that he was falling towards and about to land on top of a moving train. Seeing this as a way to save himself, the X-Man managed to point his toes up and placed his arms on his sides, getting into a 'controlled free fall' position, and once he got close enough to the roof of the train, he pointed both of his fists downward and plunged his claws into roof and managed to stand on top of the train. After shaking off the effects of such a rough landing, Wolverine is soon surprised when he felt a large thud behind on the roof, as if something, or someone, had fallen onto it. This prompted him to look over his shoulder and saw that it was the Silver Samurai, who by this time had landed on the roof in a kneeling position, with his sword plunged into the roof. After pulling his claws out of the roof, Wolverine spun around and faced his silver plated opponent while getting in a readied stance. "You just don't give up, do ya?"

The Samurai did not reply right away, as he stood up, pulled the blade out, got into a readied fighting stance himself, all the while, charging his blade with energy once more. "Not when it comes to beating you, Gajin!"

Though he knew that the Samurai meant business, Wolverine refused to be intimidated and merely scoffed at him. "Not today, you won't!"

At that moment, the two mutant combatants charged towards each other, both of whom let out battle cries. Upon reaching one another, both Wolverine's claws and the Samurai's energy charged katana made contact and the two resumed their battle, with the Ref Bot flying high above them to capture their every move for the audiences, while in Japan as well as the rest of the world to see.

Finally, after using the claws in his right hand to block the Samurai's overhead slash and pushing is blade away from him, Wolverine went on the offensive by darting the claws in his other hand at his opponent's belt buckle.

The Samurai, on the other hand, quickly swing his sword down to the left to deflect the claws and pushed them outward, and once again being overtaken by the heat of battle, pulled his blade back and went for a shoulder high horizontal left sided slash, hoping to take Wolverine's head off.

Luckily though, Wolverine saw this and quickly underneath the blade to save himself from getting decapitated, and the process, moved underneath the Samurai's right side and ended up right behind him. As he waited for his armored opponent to turn, however, the X-Man looked ahead and noticed something that made his eyes grow wide. It was that of a metal railing with a sign' written in Japanese, of course, telling the train turn to the right. As such, he took this moment to quickly falls back on the train's roof chest first and with his hands over his head.

As the Samurai turned around, he looked down and saw Wolverine lying face down and was naturally confused. But as he turned around, he was shocked to see that the train was about to go underneath the metal railing, and to avoid it knocking him off the the top of the trail, he took his energy charged katana, raised it over his head and threw an overhead downward slash, slicing the entire railing in two.

Wolverine, hearing what sounded of steel cutting through steel, looked straight up and was somewhat shocked to see the Samurai still standing in a slashing pose, indicating that the Samurai did indeed slash through the railing and causing him to grunt in disappointment.

After successfully dealing with railing, the Samurai quickly spun and around, looked down at Wolverine and said this to him as he pointed the tip of his blade at the feral mutant. "It will more than mere distractions to defeat me, Gajin!"

Though frustrated, Wolverine nevertheless stood straight up and ready to fight. "Figured as much."

With the feral X-Man back in his sights, the Samurai attacked once more by running in and throwing a left rising upward slash, only to have it blocked when Wolverine threw his left fist downward and used his claws to deflect the blade to the right side. Not wanting to wait for his opponent to counter attack, as well as feel his frustration overtake him, the Samurai pulled his katana back, then raised it over his head and tried to slice Wolverine in half right down the center.

Fortunately for Wolverine though, he threw all six of his claws upward and successfully blocked the slash and pushed it away form his person. Moments later, he looked past the Samurai's right shoulder and with a worried expression, saw the yellow energy ropes just ahead, indicating that they were both about to out of bounds. Normally, like the Samurai, Wolverine could care less about this tournament that Osborn and his controlled cronies in S.H.I.E.L.D. cooked up, but in his my, if anybody could take Osborn and his Thunderbolts down before they could become too big of a threat for he and his fellow X-Men could handle, the Avengers might as well must have ' the best there is at what he does' win this sick game! With that mindset, Wolverine quickly looked around and spotted an upcoming rooftop on the right side, and once the timing was right, the feral X-Man popped his claws back into his hands, then wrapped both of his arms around the Samurai's upper body and keeping a good strong grip, jumped off of the train with his opponent in tow and landed hard on the rooftop before they reached the laser ropes.

After taking such a rough landing, the disoriented Samurai pushed Wolverine off of him and got back on his feet, all the while holding his aching head, despite that he was wearing a helmet. Once recovered, the silver plated Yakuza member saw his katana was also on the roof, but just a few feet away. A fact that surprisingly did not bother him, for he literally had a trick up his sleeve, namely that of a of a piece of wired tied to his right wrist and with the other tend tied to the bottom of his sword. With a quick jerk, he pulled his katana towards him and used his left hand to catch it by it's handle. With his weapon now back in his possession, the Samurai grabbed the handle with both hands and charged his blade with energy once again, and now fuming with how he as just thrown by his old enemy, sprinted towards Wolverine, who by this time was dazed and in a kneeling position and threw a right sided over head slash, attempting to take his head off.

As before, Wolverine spotted this and held up his claws in an 'X' over his head to block the burning blade. Incidentally, it was being in this position that somehow brought back another one of the clawed mutant's dark memories...

_...that being when Logan had just lost his duel with Harada, who at that time had plunged the tip of his katana just below the mutant's collarbone and forced him to kneel. Harada then pulled out his blade and was just about to throw another slash to take Logan's head clean off of his shoulders, until a crying Mariko ran in, got in between the two and knelt before Harada himself. "Stay out of this, woman!" barked Harada. "I'm ending this!"_

_"No...I must," replied a saddened Mariko with a quivering voice._

_Naturally, this response left Harada, as well as the people watching, completely dumbfounded. "What do you mean?"_

_With tears running down her cheeks, a heartbroken Mariko explained. "All of this was caused...because I refused to honor an obligation forged by both of our families. And so...I plead to you, Harada-san, spare Logan's life...and I will take your hand in marriage."_

_Mariko's declaration came as a total shock to everyone present, especially the wide-eyed and wounded Logan. For though he knew that she was doing this to save his life, hearing her say that she will marry his enemy was more painful than the wound he now has, as well as any other wound he sustained in the past._

_Nevertheless, Harada remembered that marrying Mariko was for the sake of the Yakusa and Yashinda clan merging together, and thus placed his katana back into his sheath. "Very well, as token for you finally coming to your senses, I shall honor your request and spare this Gajin's life." Afterwards, he leaned down and viciously grabbed the back of Mariko's hair, forcing her to look up to him. "But you will do best to NEVER forget your place!" The victorious, as well as callous Harada thew Mariko face down to the floor, then walked over to his fellow Yakuza._

_Logan, with his stab wound still trying to close up, crawled over to Mariko, who can be heard sobbing with her face down in the floor. "Mariko...don't do this...!"_

_Hearing her lover's voice, Mariko sat up, her eyes now red from crying, then turned to face the wounded Logan and gently placed her hands on both of his cheeks so she can pour her heart out to him while she still had the chance. "There is no other way. I am willing to endure any pain Harada may inflict on me...but never the pain of seeing you suffer because of me. But please know that whatever happens, Logan-san...I will always love you..."_

...Back in the present, the struggling Wolverine found himself struggling to keep the energy charged blade of the Samurai from reaching his neck. But with the sword's added strength thanks to the Samurai's mutant power, as well as the armored Yakuza starting to give in to his blood lust, it made it harder to do so.

That is until the Ref Bot stepped in, with the announcer's face on the monitor. "Silver Samurai, I highly advice you pull your sword back," he said somewhat sternly. "You're inches away from being disqualified."

The Ref Bot's interference annoyed the Samurai enough to momentarily stop pressing down on his blade and turn to address the announcer with an evil look in his eye. "Back away!" he yelled. "I know what I'm doing, and further more, I don't care about...!"

Suddenly, as the Samurai was distracted by the Ref-Bot, Wolverine took this opportunity to position his claws in a way that would trap the blade, then pulled the katana itself out of the armored Yakua's hands, all the while turning to the left slightly and throwing a right legged side kick into abdomen. As the Samurai held his gut in pain and staggered backward, Wolverine got right back on his feet, where he then noticed the thin wire and after pulling his right hand away and leaving the sword in between the claws of his left hand, he retracted two claws back into his right hand to use the one remaining to cut the wire, thus separating the weapon from the still winded Samurai. Moments later, the feral X-Man retracted all of his claws back into his hands, only to use his left hand to grab the handle of the katana, while at the same time, running in and delivering a hard right knee strike to the bent down Samurai's face, which not only knocked off his helmet, but also sent him down hard onto the floor, revealing the nose bleeding face of Kenuichio Harada. Now in control, Wolverine took the katana, and with pure hatred in his eyes, raised the weapon over his head.

Needless to say, this was a shocking and horrifying scene watching, from the Japanese audience...

...as well as the audience watching back in the Garden, whereas the Avengers looked very worried at what Wolverine was planning to do. But no more than that of Cap, who while he tried to keep a cool and calm demeanor, he was tightly clinching his fist with anxiety, for he knew that look in his old comrade's eyes and also knew what usually came next. "Logan...don't you dare do what I think you're about to do!"

In her sky box, a scared and worried Mariko watched what was happening with her hands cupped over her mouth with fear. _"Logan-san, no!"_

Back in Tokyo, Wolverine let out a loud, anger filled yell for the entire city to hear, took the katana and made one downward slash!

For a minute, the city to go into complete silence, until it was broken by the sound of a whimpering Harada, who by this time had his eyes tightly closed until he realized that he didn't feel the pain of sharp steel entering his skull, and more importantly, he was still alive! This prompted him to open only his left eye and is surprised to see that he was completely unharmed, but as he looked down, he saw that Wolverine's true target was that of his belt-buckle, which was now completely sliced in half, all of which caused yellow energy to start pouring out and completely freeze Harada in place.

It wasn't long that the Ref Bot to float over and point it's screen down and show everyone on television the now victorious Wolverine standing over his fallen opponent, which caused the people to cheer, as well as make the announcer to let out a sigh of relief that no one was murdered on global television. However, knowing that he still had a job to do, the announcer mentally commanded the Ref Bot to hover down next to the feral mutant. "Well, folks," he said enthusiastically. "Here is your winner...Wolverine!" This announcement caused the Japanese audience to cheer and applaud the X-Man, not just with how he found, but how he chose to finish the match.

As for Wolverine himself, he tossed the sword away and looked down at the frozen Harada with a bitter expression. "Don't get it twisted, Harada," he told him. "Normally, I would've been more than happy to slice your head in two, but I chose to let ya live for two reasons! One, I'm in no mood to hear any of Rogers' 'killin' my enemies makes me no better than them' speeches," As he continued, the X-Man took a moment to let out a sigh as what he said next made reference to the woman that he still loved, and that Harada was still married to. "And two, I'm doin' it out of respect for the who man has more honor that you and I will ever have."

**WINNER: WOLVERINE**


	4. Chapter 4

**MEETING OF THE FISTS**

Back in the Garden, Wolverine had just arrived back via teleportation pad and stands before a crowd with mixed reactions, cheers from the Avengers fans for his performance, and boos from the Thunderbolts fans for defeating the Samurai.

While Wolverine walked towards the Avengers, the irritable Iron Patriot is seen standing with his arms crossed and motionless, but in reality, he was using a built-in 'cellphone' system in his helmet, talking to a lawyer representing the Yakuza. "Well, with all due respect to your client, Harada is the one who said no to the secret 'add-ins' we prepared for in the match," said the Patriot. "All I can tell you is that he's off the team, and we'll have him be sent to your headquarters so YOU can deal with him! Sayonara!" At that moment, the Patriot used the inner circuitry connected for his forehead via suction cups to mentally command his helmet to end the call, so he can focus his frustration on the tournament, to which he and his team are off to a bad start.

Over in the Avengers corner, Wolverine had some of his teammates congratulate him, but he didn't really pay attention. For he felt that the victory he achieved was that of a hollow one. For though he defeated his foe, the Silver Samurai, and helped his team achieve a victory in this tournament, the person that he really wanted to be with, Mariko Yashida, was still a prisoner of the Samurai, but in the shackles that was their marriage.

For Spidey seeing Wolverine like this actually sparked worried him. _"Okay, something tells me he's using the 'tough guy' act to hide what's really bothering him,"_ thought the Web-Head, and though he didn't feel comfortable doing it, he chose to approached him. "Hey Wolvie, you okay?"

Though Wolverine heard the Wall-Crawler's voice, he did not answer him right away, for he was looking up at saw Mariko and her associates up in the skybox up top, and it appeared that they were leaving.

At one point, Mariko looked down and saw the feral mutant looking up at her, and once their eyes met, the love that they had for one another, as well as the beautiful memories that they share, seeming to coming rushing back, and now more than ever they wanted to be in each others arms. But sadly, they both knew that that can never be. And so, giving Wolverine a small smile, Mariko turned and walked out of the sky box with her associates, trying her hardest not to cry.

After watching Mariko leave, Wolverine let out a somewhat saddened sigh before giving the Web-Head this reply. "I'll live."

Spidey no there was more then the X-Man was letting on, but chose not to drop it. Because one, this was not the time and place, and two, didn't want the feral mutant to turn those claws of his towards him out of frustration.

Cap also approached Wolverine, and while he was worried as to what was bothering him, he chose to respect his old friend's privacy and steered the conversation more to the tournament itself. "Well, you did good, Logan, and how you handled your opponent to win the match was honorable."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, Rogers," replied the ever gruff mutant. "Just focus on your match when it comes up." Moments later, Wolverine looked up and noticed something that actually brought a smirk on his face. "Well, that's interesting."

Normally, Spidey would be glad to see a troubled friend's spirit pick back up, but in the case of seeing Wolverine smiling, that was not the case. In fact, it made the Wall-Crawler nervous and as he looked up at the screen to see what got the X-Man grinning, it made his eyes grow wide with fright. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me!"

Up on the large screen showed the tournament brackets, it showed that both Spidey and Wolverine's names have both been moved up to the 16th Finals, but it also had them pitted against each other, to which the announcer saw and brought to the crowd's attention. "And already folks, we have our first match-up in the 16th Finals, namely that it will be Spider-Man vs. Wolverine! And judging from how these two warriors fought, I'm sure will be in for a phenomenal match!"

A smirking Wolverine actually agreed with the announcer as he placed his hand on the bewildered Wall-Crawler's shoulder. "Oh, that's somethin' to look forward to." said the feral mutant, actually eager to see how the Web-Head will measure up to him, as well as relish the thought of having venting his frustrations out on him for all of the bug's annoying banter he heard while fighting along side him.

Spidey, on the other hand, seemed to be less than thrilled. "Oh yeah, me too!" he said sarcastically. "A genetically enhanced teenager going up against a clawed mutant with anger issues. Can barely contain myself."

Back on the stage, the announcer returned to moving things along for the 32nd Finals. "But that sure classic of a match will have to wait for 16th Finals folks! For now, let's proceed with our next match-up, one in which you could call a...meeting of the fists! For up next, we have a battle between two of both respected teams' martial arts masters, namely the Avengers' Iron Fist and the Thunderbolts' Batroc the Leaper!"

With the crowd roaring with that announcement, Gwen watched the events from her skybox, still more concerned about Harry than anything else. However, while watch the proceedings of the tournament unfold, she couldn't help but overhear a conversation going on just outside the skybox, with one of the voices being that of a male saying this."So yeah, we got everything set up, just like Mrs. Osborn asked."

Now curious, as well as suspicious, Gwen quietly got out of her seat and tip toed over to the door, where she leaned in to listen harder on the conversation on the other side.

Sure enough, on the other side of the door and in the hallway, it's revealed to be that of an S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in a business suit and Victoria Hand. "Good," Victoria replied with an emotionless expression. "With the way the last two fights have ended, I hope Batroc doesn't screw this up, especially since we have it set to work in his favor."

Naturally, this shocked Gwen right to the core. "Oh my god," she whispered in disbelief, now knowing that Norman Osborn and the Thunderbolts were cheating to win.

Back on the stage, Iron Fist himself let out a calm breath, mentally preparing himself for his match against Batroc. While preparing, he is greeted by his fellow Hero for Hire, Luke Cage, who decided to give his friend and partner some words of encouragement. "Give em hell, Fist!" said Luke. "Show Stark that the Heroes for Hire are worth every penny he's paying us!"

Iron Fist was annoyed of Luke's interest in money while performing heroism, but nonetheless turned and gave Luke a nod. "I'll keep that in mind, Luke."

"Participants!" called the announcer. "To the teleportation pads please!"

As Iron Fist walked towards one of the pads, Batroc himself couldn't resist showing off and thus decided to leap and flip over his teammates and lands on one of the pads, sticking the landing in perfect form and bowing to the audience as if he performed a magic trick. "Voila, New York!" said the French born Thunderbolt. "You are looking at you zoon to be winner of zis match and living proof zat ze Thunderbolts are superior!" At that moment, he turned and pointed his finger at Iron Fist. "And I shall prove eet by dispozing of zis poor upstart who I'm sure is not even worthy for facing someone of my caliber!"

Though Fist would normally would be offended by someone with such arrogance, he still kept a calm head as he popped his knuckles. "We'll see about that."

A split second later, both Fist and Batroc vanish out of sight and transported to parts unknown.


	5. Chapter 5

**32 FINALS: IRON FIST VS. BATROC THE LEAPER**

The place: Paris, France, a city widely known around the world as the 'City of Love.' But today, it was to be used as a battlefield for two upcoming combatants of the Contest of Champions tournament. And in this eloquent city, a good majority of people have gathered around the Eiffel Tower, where the laser ropes have surrounded the monument and holoscreen right in front of the tower above the crowd. Moments later, two flashes of light occurred, and sure enough, the combatants if this much arrived: Danny Rand, the Immortal Iron Fist, and the infamous French mercenary, Batroc the Leaper.

A grinning Batroc looked around in glee in being back in the land of his birth, as well as the cheering crowd. "Ah, Wonderful!" he said ecstatically, then turned his attention to Fist himself and got into a Savate fighting stance. "Iron Fist...it vill be an honor to defeat you in zee place of my birth, and my vellow Frenchmen!"

Despite being disgusted with Batroc's boasting, Fist nonetheless remained calm as he gave his enemy a Wushu hand salute, then calmly lowered himself into a readied fighting stance as well. "We'll see."

Suddenly, a Ref Bot appeared and floated in between the two martial artists, with the announcer's face on the screen. "All right, gentlemen, given the many close calls we've had in the last match, please remember that you are to defeat, not kill, your opponent? Understood?" After receiving no answer from neither Fist or Batroc, the announcer assumed, and prayed, that they did in fact did understand the rules. "Well, now that that's out of the way...BEGIN!"

After hearing this, the giddy Batroc lets out this cry. "ALONZI!" The Mercenary then ran, jumped up and threw a left legged flying kick at Fist.

Fortunately for Fist though, he saw this and steeped to the right side to avoid the kick. Afterwards, he responded by throwing a right legged kick, aiming for Batroc's head.

However, the French mercenary spotted this and threw up his right arm to block the kick. Moments later, he threw a left handed middle punch, with his sights set on the K'un Lun warrior's belt buckle.

Luckily though, Fist used his left hand downward and not only blocked the punch but also pushed Batroc's fist away. Moments later, he responded with a right jab, which unfortunately is blocked by his equally fast opponent. Not wanting to give the mercenary another chance to attack, Fist threw a left jab, and once it was blocked by Batroc, he went for a right hook.

Batroc saw this attack coming and quickly ducked to avoid the punch. Moments later, he popped back up on his feet, and was surprised to see the Living Weapon spinning around and throwing a left elbow strike, which forced Batroc to hold up his left arm to block it. From then on, the mercenary attempted to fight back by throwing a right hook.

Fist, on the other hand, anticipated this and ducked underneath the punch and stepped back to create a small gap between himself and Batroc, retaliated by throwing a left legged round kick, aiming for his enemy's head.

Unfortunately, this attack is thwarted when Batroc himself threw both of his arms to the left side and blocked it. After saving himself, Batroc fought back by throwing a right hook.

The Immortal Iron Fist proved just as quick on defense as he held both of arms up to the right side, blocking the punch, then caught Batroc by surprise by throwing a quick left backfist into his face, stunning him. With the mercenary now disoriented, the Living Weapon from K'un Lun took his right fist, channeled his his willpower and 'chi' into it, causing it to burn in pinkish colored flame. Afterwards, he went and threw a charged up right middle punch, aiming for Batroc's belt buckle.

However, Batroc's noticed Iron Fist's chi charged punch, and threw a left legged front kick, using his foot to block the attack. It was here that Batroc silently thanked Osborn for his gift in the form of energy resistant boots, for his foot was protected from the Living Weapon's burning fist. And, with his foot still on Fist's burning hand, he used it as a boost to jump up and perform a flip-lick, using his right foot to kick Fist's chin and knocking him loopy. While in the air, Batroc back-flipped in mid air, and grabbed one of the many railings that composed the left leg of the Eiffel Tower. Afterwards, he managed to pull himself up, placed his feet on top the railing and balanced on it as he looked down at the fallen Fist, who was still on the ground and trying to shake off the cobwebs from the mercenary's kick. "So, ZIS is ze legendary Iron Fis?" he asked the fallen Hero for Hire in an arrogant tone. "How pitiful."

Not wanting to stay down for long, as well as put up with Batroc's snide remarks any longer, Fist popped back up on his feet, concentrated and channeled his chi into his entire body. This caused the K'un L'un Warrior himself to being glowing the same pinkish color, which also enabled him to run in incredible speeds, then jumped incredibly high and landed on the same railing in which Batroc was standing on, who by this time looked impressed if not surprised.

It didn't take long for the Ref Bot to fly over and hover right above the two fighters to keep observing the match.

And as for Batroc himself, he gave Fist a smirk as he got back into a fighting stance. "Oh, gotten a second wind, have you?" he asked, sounding pleased. "Good, zis might just be fun after all."

As Fist returned to his fighting stance, his only reply to Batroc was using his leading hand to give him the 'come here' hand gesture so they can continue the match.

This resulted in Batroc charging towards the battle readied Fist and going for a left jab.

Luckily for Fist, he not only used his left arm to block the punch, but he also responded by throwing a quick right straight punch of his own, nailing Batroc in the face and stunning him long enough to give the K'un L'un warrior the opening he needed to throw a right side kick into his enemy's chest, causing Batroc himself to stumble backward.

While in a daze, Batroc backed himself up against one of the rails, with the impact being enough to help him snap back to his senses. He then placed his right foot on the metal beam behind him, then pushed himself off of it to give him the boost needed to help him charge towards Fist, who by this time is still in a fighting posture, but appears to be more relaxed. Once he got close enough, Batroc went on the attack by jumping up and throwing a left round kick.

Fist saw this and this prompted him to duck and by pure instinct, threw a right leg sweep. Though he knew this tactic was useless because Batroc was already in the air, he still saw this as away to 'go with the flow' in regards to keeping up with the mercenary's pacing. And once Fist stood straight up, he saw that Batroc had landed safely on his feet, and thus attacked him with lightening fast punching combinations.

As Batroc masterfully blocked every punch that came his way, he finally decided to fight back as he blocked an incoming right hook and used his right foot to throw a low round kick, hoping to hit Fist's right knee.

Luckily for the Living Weapon though, he spotted this attack and quickly threw his right arm downward to block the kick, but later saw Batroc pull that same leg back and threw another low kick, this time aiming for his yellow masked head. This prompted Fist to duck and dodge the kick, and as he stood back up, he retaliated by throwing a left legged round kick, nailing the French Mercenary in his left side. Once Batroc was in a vulnerable position, Fist threw a right round kick with the same leg, this time, aiming for Batroc's head

Despite the pain, however, Batroc proved to be just as fast to recover, meaning he held up his right arm to block the kick, the fought back by throwing a right jab, hoping to hit Fist's belt buckle.

Fist, however, saw this and instinctively held up his left knee in front of his mid-section, blocking the punch and successfully protecting his belt buckle to stay in the match.

However, this did not stop Batroc from continuing his assault, for after pulling his right hand back, he stood up and threw a left legged crescent kick, to which Fist easily avoided by ducking. Once he put his foot down, he saw Fist pop back up and throwing a right hook, and thus held both of his arms to the right side to block the punch, then fought back by sneakingly throwing a right elbow strike into the K'un L'un Warrior's chest, forcing him to stumble back two steps. Now having his opponent on the ropes, Batroc went in for the kill by running in, then jumped up and used his right leg to throw a flying kick.

Though still feeling the effects of the last strike, Fist saw this coming and ducked underneath it, allowing Batroc to fly over him.

After landing on his feet and balancing perfectly on the rail, Batroc spun around and saw that Fist had not only fully recovered, but this charging towards him and threw a left legged sidekick in defense.

Spotting this, Fist threw a left sidekick of his own, with the bottom of his foot hitting Batroc's, and thus putting the two martial artists in a stale mate, with the two staring at each other while still in sidekick stances.

After a few seconds, Batroc quickly pulled his left back and quickly got into a fighting stance, and watched Fist do the same. "Impressive, mon ami!" said the grinning mercenary,. "Zere truly iz more to you zen meets ze eye, no?"

"I've got a few more surprises," Fist replied with a sly smirk.

Before giving his answer, Batroc looked past Fist and noticed a steel railing with a small crack in it. One in which he knew was made by his new friends in S.H.I.E.L.D. "Oh, zo am I!" With that said, Batroc then ran in, then jumped up and threw another flying kick, one in which Fist easily spotted and quickly ducked.

After a successful dodge, Fist stood back up, spun around and saw that Batroc had landed safely and turned to face him. And thus, wanting to end this quickly, Fist charged forward, and upon getting close enough, he threw a right legged front kick, only to have it blocked by the French Mercenary. However, the Living Weapon continued his attack by throwing numerous lighting fast straight punches.

Batroc, however, easily blocked his opponent's punches that came his way, all the while walking back to the railing that had the crack. Finally, one the time was right, the mercenary used his left hand to block and push the K'un L'un Warrior's left fist over to the right side, causing him to punch the crack instead, and prompted Batroc to close his eyes.

As this happened, a blinding flash of light occurred and blinded Fist himself, causing him to put his hands over his eyes in pain and step backward.

Batroc opened his eyes and saw that Fist was disoriented, and thus seized the moment by leaping towards the blinded K'un Lun Warrior where he used his right legged front kick into his opponent's chest, then delivered a left legged round kick, hitting Fist in the head causing him to go over the railing, and just barely used his hands to catch the railing. As he slowly regained his sight, the dangling Fist managed to push himself up back on to the railing, and through the corner of his left eye, saw Batroc heading towards him with another flying kick and quickly ducked to avoid it.

As for Batroc himself, he managed to stop himself by grabbing onto on of the railings, and once he saw Fist stand back up, he strangely decided to climb up the tower itself.

Though confused why his eccentric opponent would do this, Fist nonetheless gave chase and proceeded to climb up the railings after Batroc.

Back in the Garden, the audience looked at they just watched in a mixture of shock and bewilderment. And while the Avengers were surprised at this as well, Iron Man appeared to still be completely calm.

The Wasp noticed her armored teammate's strange behavior and thus approached him. "Uh, Tony, you're not completely freaked out about this?"

"Nope," Iron Man replied. "Don't get me wrong, I'm pissed, but I'm not shocked." As he continued to explain, the Armored Avenger stared at the Iron Patriot with a narrowed brow behind his faceplate. "Pissed because I got a feeling that that little flsh in Iron Fist's match wasn't an accident."

Spidey heard Iron Man's statement, which also made him give the Patriot a suspicious stare. _"That makes two of us."_

Meanwhile, in the hallway of the Garden's business floor, Gwen Stacy silently walked through it in her attempt to follow Victoria Hand and the male agent from earlier. She lost track of them earlier, but soon noticed one of the doors cracked open slightly, and thus decided to slowly walk towards it and check it out.

Once Gwen approached it, she looked through the small opening, and sure enough, she spotted Victoria and the agent looking at a TV screen which showed the Iron Fist/Batroc match in Paris, to which the male agent saw the two fighters were almost at the top of the Eiffel Tower. "Batroc will be arriving at one of our light bomb spots, ma'am."

"I can see that," Victoria replied, sounding annoyed. "I just hope this time Batroc is able to correctly take advantage of it and win the damn match!"

At this point, Gwen looked at this development in pure horror. She wanted to use her phone to take pictures of this, but knew that she was already in enough risk as it was. As such, she quietly backed away and walked away from the door, and instead chose to use her phone to make a few calls to the one person she knew would listen to her...Peter Parker!

Back in the room, Victoria briefly turned to the door and saw that it was opening, having thought that it was closed all the way. And what disturbed her the most was that she could've sworn that someone was standing there, and what's worse, was listening to what was going on.

Meanwhile, back in Paris, Batroc finally arrived at the top of the tower, where he climbed over the railing and on to the platform. While panting in exhaustion, the mercenary saw Fist had just arrived as well.

Once Fist finally climbed over the railing and his feet touched the platform, he spotted Batroc and soon got into a Wushu stance, and thanks to years of training on how to control his breathing, did no look the least bit tired.

Moments later, the Ref Bot also made it to the top, continuing to monitor the two fighters as they continued their match.

As Batroc tried to catch his breath, Fist looked through the corner of his left eye and spotted another mysterious crack in the steel railing next to him. And, remembering what happened last time, he stayed cautious, while at the same time, decided to use it to his advantage. "Listen friend," Fist called out to the still panting Batroc. "You obviously have nothing left, and you must by now know that your tricks won't work on me. So, I strongly suggest you do yourself a favor and surrender while you have the opportunity." While Fist was sincere in giving Batroc a chance to surrender peacefully, he also hoped that this would damage his pride and goat the mercenary into attacking first.

Luckily for the Living Weapon, it did! For Batroc's breathing soon stopped and he looked at Fist with pure anger, as if this friendly warning was a insult to his skills as a master of Savate. "How cute," he said in defiance. "You actually zink zat YOU are in control of ze situation!" With that said, and forgetting his plan, Batroc charged towards the calm Iron Fist and went for a left hook.

However, Fist calmly stepped over to left side to dodge the attack, and once he saw Batroc turn and go for a right legged spinning back heel kick, he closed his eyes and moved his head slightly to the right, allowing Batroc's foot to hit the crack instead, causing that same flash to spark and this time, right into the mercenary's eyes, blinding him instantly. This caused the now sightless Batroc to stumble around aimlessly...until he unintentionally tripped over the railing and would've fell off the top of the tower and on to his death...

...if Fist had not have grabbed his ankle, then pulled him over the railing and fall back first onto the platform. As the fallen Batroc was still wallowing in pain, the Living Weapon charged up his right fist and punched Batroc's belt buckle, shattering it instantly and causing the French Mercenary to freeze in place in the same yellow energy that froze his two fellow teammates from the matches before.

This action caused the Ref Bot to float over to the now victorious Iron Fist, broadcasting his image to spectators world wide, as well as the French spectator below. "Here is your winner," said the announcer via screen. "IRON FIST!"

As for Fist himself, he only looked down at the defeated Batroc and shook his head at him in pity. "What a shame...such a waste of talent."

**WINNER: IRON FIST**


	6. Chapter 6

**NEW PROBLEMS**

As Iron Fist teleported back to the Garden, and in front of a applauding audience, it didn't take long for the Avengers to com forward and congratulate him, the first one being that of Luke Cage, who gives his partner and friend a fist bump.

However, just before Spidey could reach the K'un 'Lun Warrior and give him props for winning his match, he heard a peeping sound coming from his right pants pocket, where he placed his Avengers I.D. card. Naturally curious, if not confused, Spidey quickly turned to Iron Man and address him. "Uh, Iron Man, why is my I.D. card going off? I mean, the Avengers are already...well, assembled."

Upon hearing this question, Iron Man seemed reminded of a detail he forgot to mention to Spidey once he gave him his reserve membership. But just to be sure, he used the circuitry in his helmet to mentally command a few screens to pop up, all showing the membership cards of his teammates, and saw that Spidey's image was flashing, with the phrase 'cellphone' appearing at the bottom. "Oh, that's your cellphone going off, kid."

"My cellphone?!" asked the Web-Head, sounding even more confused. "But I didn't give it to you guys!"

"Yeah, about that," Iron Man replied. "Since you got your reserve membership, J.A.R.V.I.S. was able to look into the files S.H.I.E.L.D. had on you, and copied them into our databanks...including your cellphone number." As he explained, the Armored Avenger saw that he now was slightly freaking out the young Spidey. "To be fair, I was going to tell you this, but then all of this craziness happened and...it just kinda slipped my mind. But anyway, you can answer the call through your I.D. card, but you might wanna tell them that your too busy snapping pictures to talk."

"Right...thanks," Spidey replied in an uneasy tone, for while he knew that Iron Man had the best of intentions, and was grateful that he would go the extra mile for him, he still found this news a bit unsettling. Nevertheless, he quickly walked over to the left side and off the stage, where the then pulled out his flashing card. Having no idea on how to answer this new feature, Spidey pressed the image showing his picture to see if that would worked. "Uh...hello?"

To the Wall-Crawler's surprise, the voice that answered him back was that of the calm and pleasant J.A.R.V.I.S. "Hello, Spider-Man. I am afraid that the person who called is no longer on the line, but she did leave a voice mail. The number belongs to that of a young girl name Gwen Stacy."

"Gwen?!" exclaimed the surprised Web-Head, as well as worried. "Well, play it, hurry!"

At that moment, J.A.R.V.I.S. fulfilled Spidey's request, and thus played the message:

_**"Peter, it's Gwen! Look, I know you're in the middle of shooting pictures, but if you get this, please listen! The Thunderbolts are cheating! The have all of their matches rigged in the favor! I'm going to see if I can find more evidence as to what thy're doing and will call Dad afterwards, but I know that you and Spider-Man are close! Once you get a chance, tell him and the Avengers that they are in danger! Please Pete!"** _

Once the message ended, Spidey was completely mortified at what he just head. Not from the fact that the Thunderbolts were cheating, but Gwen was now putting herself in harm's way. "NO!" As he turned, he saw the Avengers walking back to their corner, and then frantically approached Iron Man. "Mr. Sta...Tony! It's Gwen! She's in trouble!"

Iron Man, like the rest of the Avengers, grew concerned with Spidey's behavior and gently placed his right hand on his chest to calm him down. "Whoa, whoa, easy kid! Calm down! How is your girlfriend in trouble?"

Before answering, Spidey looked at the Shellhead with a flabbergasted expression. "What? She's not my..." At that moment, Spidey shook his head to regain focus at the matter at hand. "Nevermind! She said that she discovered that Osborn and his flunkies are cheating, and she's now trying to find proof!"

Hearing this news caused Iron Man to let out an aggravated groan. "Great, if it's not one thing, it's another."

As for Spidey, he soon clinched his fist turned to walk off the stage. "I need to go after her!"

At that moment, Iron Man quickly stopped the determined Web-Slinger by grabbing his shoulder. "Whoa, whoa, easy there, Romeo," he told the anxious Web-Head. "Look, right now, we don't want Osborn to get suspicious, so I'll tell you what. Call Gwen back as 'Peter Parker', and tell her that you notified us of what's going on. And if she's found out anything else, call her Dad about it and don't dig any further and find a safe place to hide!"

Spidey still wanted to leave and find Gwen, but knew that given the situation, this was the only option. As such, he gave Iron Man a nod and turned his attention back to his card. "J.A.R.V.I.S., can you dial Gwen's cell number?"

"Doing so now," replied the Avengers trusty A.I., sounding just as eager to help the young girl.

Meanwhile, inside a ladies restroom, Gwen is at the mirror, checking her cellphone to see if Peter had called her back yet, but much to her dismay, she could see that he hasn't just yet. With a groan, she was just about to go back to snooping, but suddenly, she is startled when she heard the door open, thus prompting her to spin around and saw who was coming in.

It was that of Victoria Hand, who opened and held the ladies room door with one hand. "Ah, Gwen, there you are," she said the smile and trying to sound relieved. "You weren't in the skybox, and you had us all worried. If you had to use the restroom, I think the skybox had one that you could use."

Gwen's face almost turned white with fright at that moment. "Oh, uh, yeah, sorry about that," she said flabbergasted, hoping that her 'clueless act' would be enough to convince Victoria that she wasn't following her. "I guess I didn't noticed."

Victoria had the feeling that Gwen knew more than she was letting on, but nevertheless, remained pleasant. "It's quite all right. But hey, if you're done, I'll escort you back to the box."

"Uh, yeah sure," Gwen replied with a smile to hide her uneasy feeling. Every fiber of her being was telling her to run, but from what she heard on the way to the stadium, Victoria was a S.H.I.E.L.D. gent and could very well kill her before even getting a chance to the door. And so, she had no choice but to place her phone back in her pocket and started washing her hands to help sell her 'using the bathroom' act. As she did this, she could feel her phone vibrate, knowing that it must be Peter trying to call her back. To her dismay, she did not answer it and allowed it to vibrate as she tried her hands and walked to Victoria so as not to arouse any more suspicion than there already was.

A smiling and seemingly calm Victoria allowed Gwen to pass her by, but as she left the bathroom, her smile soon turned to that of a serious expression. For she had a feeling that Gwen was hiding something and even more determined to keep an eye on her.

Back on the stage, the Avengers were now in a huddle of sorts, discussing what just happened.

The Thunderbolts took notice of this, and were understandably confused and worried. But for the iron Patriot, however, he wasn't too concerned, for even if the Avengers caught wind of what he was doing, he knew that he had a few 'back-up' plans to keep him from failing to win this tournament.

Moments later, Iron Man had just finished explaining the situation. "And that's it in a nutshell. Looks like Norman's not the 'fair man' he claims to be.

This came as no shock to Hawkeye, who rolled his eyes in annoyed. "Why am I not surprised?"

Thor, a warrior above all else, saw this news as blasphemy. "Cowardly dogs!" said the angry Thunder God as he slightly raised his hammer, Mjolnir. "They shall pay for this treachery!"

Though Iron Man didn't blame Thor for being so angry at Norman's cheap tactics, he still held a hand up get Thor's attention in hopes of not making a scene for the Patriot to notice. "Easy Thor! Yeah, Norman deserves to given the godly wrath treatment, but we need him to think he has the upper hand at the moment. For now, best thing we can do is play this by ear, but to be careful while doing it.

Once he received this answer, Thor reluctantly lowered his hammer. "Very well, Iron Man," he said solemnly, then turned to the Shellhead with a narrowed brow. "However, I am hoping that you have, what you mortals call, a 'trump card?'"

The Armored Avenger gave his godly teammate a small smile behind his faceplate as he answered. "I'm working on it."

Meanwhile, back in the Thunderbolts' corner, Surge looked on at the Avengers in suspicion and thus approached the still calm Iron Patriot. "What's they're problem?"

"Nevermind them," said the Patriot, still as cold as he was calm and collected. "You have a match coming up against the Avenger's robot. So go in there, take care of him and do try to keep your identity crisis under control."

This order from the Patriot caused so much annoyance within Surge, his eyes begin sparking with electricity. "Whatever."

Back in the Avengers' corner, Iron Man soon approached Vision, who was about to fight next. "Best of luck, Vision, and watch your back."

Vision, at first, appeared to be confused upon being cautioned by Iron Man, all in which prompts him to turn his head completely backwards and look down with his eyes at his caped back, something that baffled his teammates. "I am indeed watching my back, but I must ask, how will this aid me in my match?"

This caused Ms. Marvel to address the misunderstood android. "I think he meant for you to be careful, Vision."

"Oh," said the enlightened Vision, then turned his head forward to look at Iron Man. "Well, thank you for your concern, Iron Man, I shall exercise caution."

Though glad to heard that Vision heeded his warning, he like the rest of his teammates, could help but feel a little disturbed on what Vision just did with his head. "Good to know, buddy."

It was here that Hawkeye to whisper this to the equally baffled Black Panther. "We really need to work on that guy's people skills."

"Indeed," the Panther replied in agreement, something which he rarely did with the archer.

Back on the center of the stage, the announcer once again addressed the crowd. "Let's keep the show running! Up next, we have the Thunderbolts electrifying member, Surge, going up against the Avengers sensational synthezoid, the Vision! Gentlemen, to the teleporation pads please!"

As the Vision and Surge walked to the pads, Spidey is seen with his I.D. card, more worried then ever as he called her three teams but did not answer. "Gwen's not answering her phone! I'm really hoping that none of Osborn's goons got to her!"

Before he could answer the Web-Head, Iron Man looked up in the crowd and spotted something peculiar. "Hey kid, stop me if I'm wrong, but does this Gwen have blonde hair, blue eyes, and pretty in a 'girl next door' kinda way?"

Hearing Iron Man's describe Gwen perfectly caused Spidey to give the Shellhead an awkward expression. "Yeah, why?

To answer, Iron Man pointed up at a spot that was high above the crowd. "Look up there." said told Spidey, which prompted the Web-Slinger to look up and alarmed him greatly and what he was looking at.

Sure enough, Gwen herself is back in the skybox, sitting in her chair with a worried look as Victoria is standing right behind the girl, as if she was watching over her.

Needless to say, seeing Gwen now in trouble is enough to spark fear in Spidey. "No...!" he whispered, and at that moment, Spidey was just about to run in and save her, only to be stopped by Iron Man and Cap.

"Hold it, kid," said Iron Man to the worried Wall-Crawler. "The plan, remember?"

Cap then took his turn to speak next, feeling that since he and knew Spidey the longest, he would listen to him. "I'm afraid Tony's right this time, son. Right now, we can't afford to tip Osborn off!"

Iron Man was just about to reassure Spidey next, but hearing Cap's words caused him to give the Super Soldier an awkward look. "Whoa, whoa, Steve, what do you mean right this time?" Suddenly, the Shellhead could heard a loud, almost angry cough of the Wasp, causing him to turn and look at the shrunken and flying female Avenger, who by this time had her arms crossed and giving him a dirty look, annoyed on how he could let his ego get in the way of trying to help a friend in need. As such, a worried Iron Man turned his attention back to Spidey. "But anyway, I'm working on a plan that'll help us end Osborn's sick game quicker and save the girl. But in order for it to work, we need Osborn to think that he's still in the driver's seat. Trust me, she's safe for now."

A discouraged Spidey only let out a sigh as he saw Iron Man's point, and reluctantly gave him a nod of acknowledgement.

As Iron Man and Cap walked away from the worried Spidey, Wasp took it upon herself to fly over to him and try and lift his spirits up. "Hey, don't worry, Pete. If we can save the Earth from a giant planet eating alien, we can save both your friend and your aunt.

Spidey turned to the shrunken Wasp, and gave her a small smile behind his mask. "Yeah, thanks."

The Wasp gave the troubled Web-Head a gentle smile before turning around and flying over to Iron Man and the rest of the Avengers to watch Vision teleport to his match.

Just before he could follow the pixie-sized Avenger though, Spidey looked up and took one last look at Gwen in the skybox. _"Don't worry, Gwen, I'll get you out of this...somehow."_ With that quiet vow, the Web-Head turned and walked over to his fellow Avengers. And at that moment, Spidey, as well as the rest of his team, all saw Vision and Surge standing on the pads, and seconds later, both vanished out of sight and to their unknown destination to start their upcoming match-up.


	7. Chapter 7

**32ND FINALS: VISION VS. SURGE**

The place for battle this time was the City of Westminster in England, more specifically, right in front of Buckingham Palace, where a large platform has been set up, with yellow energy ropes surrounding it. Suddenly, two flashes of lights occur, which is later revealed to be that of both the Vision of Surge, causing jubilation from the British fans watching what was transpiring from behind the wall of the Palace and through a holoscreen floating high above for all of London to see.

The Vision himself looked around his surroundings, where moments later, he saw the cheering crowed and appeared to be intrigued. "Fascinating," said the synthezoid, marveling at London and it's people. However, as he looked at looked at Surge, who by this time had streaks of electricity around his heavily suited body and looking unhinged. All in which proved how much Vision needed to win this match, not just from his programming, but with his new human spirit telling him that he had to stop the unstable Surge before he could hurt anyone, be it his fellow Avengers to everyone else in the world as well.

At one point, a Ref Bot came into view and right in between the two combatants, with the announcer's face in full view. "All right gentlemen! I'm sure that you will give everyone here in the UK, as well as people around the world, a spectacular match, just try to be careful in doing it! So, with that in mind, let's not waste any time." With that said, the Ref Bot floating high into the air, for all of the British spectators to see. "Fighters...BEGIN!"

Not wanting to waste another second, Surge charged up his hands and shot two electric bolts at the Vision.

Fortunately for Vision, he made his body intangible and allowed the bolts to pass right though him. Afterwards, he attempted to counterattack by charging up the jewel on his forehead and fired a return shot at his electrifying opponent.

Surge,on the other hand, spotted this coming, which prompted him to hold up his right hand, charged it up and with great concentration, he formed an electric based shield, which blocked the Vision's fist. As the shield dissipated, Surge could't help but be amazed with what he just did to save himself. _"Wow, this suit really does have some neat tricks,"_ he thought as he looked at his hands. _"I officially take back every bad thing I said about Osborn...well, ALMOST everything."_ While marveling at his suit's ability to create electrical constructs, as well as how effective it was in maintaining his electric based body, Surge inadvertently left himself open for the Vision, who flew in and delivered a right hook, knocking the Thunderbolt loop. From then on, Vision set his sights on Surge's belt buckle with the intent of ending this early, but Surge recovered fast enough to see the Vision going for a right middle punch, and quickly fought back by firing an electric bolt from his left hand and successfully hit the Vision in his chest, sending flying backward.

Though Vision managed to stop himself, the attack momentarily disrupted his systems, causing his vision to show nothing but static and momentarily left the android blinded and disoriented.

Once saw the Vision in a daze, Surge fired another electric blast from out of his right hand, which hit the Vision in his right shoulder, sending him up into the air in a corkscrew motion and landing on the hard floor surface. Now with the upper hand, Surge channeled more electricity into his hands, then pointed straight down and fire two bolts which propelled him up into the air. Once airborne, and with the fallen Vision in his sights, Surge charged up his eyes and fired two thin, electric charged optic blasts, aiming for the android's belt buckle.

Luckily though, Vision's system soon rebooted and restored itself, and once he saw the blasts coming his way, he turned his body intangible once again and phased into the floor, which caused the blast to hit the surface instead.

Naturally, Surge was surprised by this, and thus frantically looked around to try and find the android. "Where are you?!" he yelled, loud enough for all in England to hear. "What, are you scared? Is the Avengers rainbow colored robot actually afraid of me turning him into lawnmower parts?!"

As Surge continued to berate the missing android, an intangible Vision rose from out of the pavement, then arrived right behind Surge, turning his body solid so he could address him. "It would be wise for you to stop this."

Naturally, Surge was surprised to hear the Vision's calm, monotone voice, and thus spun around, pointed both of his hands at the mechanical enemy and fired two lightning blasts at him.

Fortunately for Vision, however, he quickly changed the density of his body to that of diamond, thus causing the electricity to deflect off of his chest. Calculating, as well as fearing, the probability of Surge harming the spectators below due to how much power he was putting in his blast, the diamond hard Vision soon grabbed both of Surge's hands, thus stopping the flow of electricity. "You are acting sporadically, thus more likely to harm the civilians down below whether you intend to or not. As such, I offer you the chance to surrender peacefully and prevent any further harm."

"Surrender? To you?!" Surge asked, feeling insulted as electricity sparked from his body, as well as his eyes glowing. "See if you can calculate THIS!" With now enraged Thunderbolt fired another electric optic blast, which ended up hitting Vision in the face and forcing him to let go. With the synthezoid inadvertently reverting his body back to normal density, Surge channeled more electricity into his hands, then created a large construct shaped like a hammer, then whacked the disoriented Vision on the right side of his head, sending him down hard into the platform below. Afterwards, Surge floated down and upon landing safely on the platform, he saw Vision barely managing to stand up, but with the bottom portion of his red face now missing and exposing his metallic jaw.

Meanwhile, back in the, the audience all got a good look at Vision's exposed jawline, and while some were shocked and aghast, others cheered wildly, seeing this as 'hardcore' entertainment.

For the Avengers, they were naturally startled at seeing Vision's minor facial damage, but were mostly worried and concerned in seeing him up against the ropes, so to speak.

As for the Thunderbolts, they were all pleased to see Surge's progress, especially the Iron Patriot. And once he saw Surge produce so much electricity from his body, that it begins to streak across the openings in the platform, he saw this as an opportunity and secretly pressed a small button in his right gauntlet.

Back in England, small smoke screens hidden in the platform begin to spew out smoke, which began to cover the platform, Vision, Surge, and even the Ref Bot, in a blinding cloud, much to confusion of the English spectators and the viewers watching at the Garden and at home.

For the announcer watching the events through the Ref Bot, he quickly had to describe the situation to the audience before losing them...that is if he hadn't already. "We apologize ladies and gentlemen, but there must be a circuit short out." said the announcer via the speaker system, then mentally commanded the Ref Bot to approach Surge, whom he thinks might be causing the smoke, but then stopped it just a couple of feet away from him as he was still producing electric streaks with his body. "Surge, would you mind toning it down just a bit?"

This question caused great confusion for Surge, who turned and looked at the Ref Bot's screen with a dumbfounded expression. "Tone it down?!" Suddenly, through the corner of his eye, the Thunderbolt noticed four light bending, human being shaped silhouettes coming out of nowhere and surrounding the Vision, leading him to believe that the Patriot must've sent them to help him win the match. With that in mind, Surge then played along. "Oh...yeah, sure, sorry." he told the announcer, then stopped calmed down and stopped producing the electricity.

As Vision tried his best to recover his barrings,on of the silhouettes on the left nailed the android with a stiff jab while another one on the right side charged in and threw a right hook, nailing Vision in the face and forcing him to the floor. While on his knees, the Vision knows that something is amiss, and thus switched his vision to infrared. Sure enough, as he looked up, he saw the body heat of the invisible men interfering in Surge's favor and spotted one of them coming from the left side going for a left hook. As such, the Vision quickly grabbed the invisible attacker's wrist, and as he stood up, threw his enemy into the to attackers on the right side. The Vision then turned around to see the one and final attacker throwing a right legged round kick, and thus turned his body intangible and allowed the kick to pass right through him. As the befuddled attacker barely landed on his feet, Vision solidified, then simply held his right hand in front of the attacker's face with the tip of his index finger behind his thumb, and simply flicked him in the forehead, which surprisingly was strong enough to knock the attacker up into the air and out of the platform. Having dealt with the four invisible attackers, Vision soon found out their true purpose in serving as a distraction when he saw Surge charging towards him with two electric charged fists! Luckily, the Vision stopped his enemy's charged up hands from touching his person by quickly grabbing both of the Thunderbolt's wrists, button the two in a stand of. "You must...cease this, Mr. Dillon!" said Vision in a very stern tone, thinking of the safety of the spectators.

However, upon hearing the android call him 'Mr. Dillon', something inside Surge suddenly snapped. "W-What did you call me?"

"Well...according to your file, your birth name is Maxwell Dillon, but your friends, family and colleagues referred to you as 'Max'..."

Upon hearing his real name, the name that he hated because it reminded him of the puny and weak man he used to be, Surge's eyes soon filled with rage, which in turn caused more electricity to dance around his body. "DON'T...CALL ME..." With electricity strengthening him, he quickly pulled his hands back to so hard he literally pulled Vision's arms right out of their sockets! He then raised his now freed hands over his head and charged them up. "...MAX!" he roared, then fired a huge electric blast that was so powerful, it not only destroyed Vision's belt buckle, it, but it also took the android's torso right off of his waist, blasting completely in two.

It was a brutal act that left left the English crowd completely aghast and left them in stunned silence. Back in the Garden, both the Avengers and the audience were shocked to see what just happened, but out of all his teammates, it is Cap who is the most horrified to see his mechanical teammate and friend completely obliterated. "VISION!"

Though just as flabbergasted as the audience, the announcer tried his best to maintain his composure and soon heard voices in his earpiece. Once they were done, he turned his attention back to the stunned crowd, raising his hand to get their attention. "Ladies and gentlemen," he called out, and sure enough had the eyes of the crowd, as well as the Avengers and Thunderbolts, all on him. "I've...just received word from tournament officials that though Surge's actions are a tad extreme, they are also aware that the Vision is an artificial being, and thus not really alive. Therefore, such an action will not count as a disqualification, thus the winner of this match, as well as the one to score the first victory for the Thunderbolts...Surge!"

While this response resulted in a lukewarm mixed reaction from the audience, from disgusted boos from the people supporting the Avengers and cheers from those that have gravitated to the Thunderbolts, this still did not sit well with the Avengers themselves, mainly for how the officials considered Vision a none living being, when in actuality, he proved to be just as much of a feeling and living being as any person on the planet.

For the Thunderbolts, on the other hand, this was indeed good news. For even though the Avengers had two victories over them, as far as the Iron Patriot was concerned, he felt that this was a true one up over their opposing team. And though he was still annoyed with Surge on he had some difficulty having self-control regarding his name, the Patriot was still pleased enough that he still one for the Thunderbolts, and may actually keep him around...if he could do a better job at 'behaving himself.'

Back in England, Surge has already calmed himself and his body stopped producing electricity. After a few moments, the crowd's silence stopped and is replaced by the same mixed reaction back in the states. For a brief moment, Surge looked down and noticed the still squirming, heavily damaged torso of the Vision, and most disturbing of all, actually appeared to be moaning in pain. However, this did not stop the Thunderbolt from looking down at the partially destroyed android with disgust. _"My name is not Max!"_ he thought bitterly. _"And when the time's right, it's not Surge either!"_

**WINNER: SURGE**


	8. Chapter 8

**EVENING THE ODDS**

Upon returning to the Garden, Surge is greeted with a mixture of cheers and boos from a divided crowd. As he made his way to his comrades, they seemed to pave the way for him to come across the Patriot, who by this time had his arms crossed in a somewhat less than pleased posture. "I can't tell from your helmet covering your face," he told his armored leader. "But you don't seem to happy, Osborn."

The Patriot proved Surge right by letting out an irritated grunt, and once more, his son was standing next to him, with his Scarlet Spider suit somehow making him allot more muscular than usual. "It seems you forgotten our little chat about your name problem."

This caused Surge to take a defiant step forward. "Hey, I won the match, didn't I?"

Naturally, the Scarlet Spider didn't take to kindly to Surge's act of disrespect and was just about to use is suit's strength to knock him across the stage, only to be stopped when the Patriot gently placed his armored hand on the young man's chest, stopping him in his tracks.

After restraining his symbiote powered son, the Patriot looked at the disobedient Surge with an angry glare. "Yes, you did, and I commend you for that. However, your little outburst may have just placed our image to the general public in serious jeopardy. An image we must keep positive if our plan is to succeed. So, unless you actually want to be put back in Ravenscrot, I strongly suggest you do as you're told and play nice! Understood?"

Unbeknownst to everyone, Surge actually found the Patriot's stare quite intimidating. For only did he have enough power in S.H.I.E.L.D. to send him back to captivity as he said, but he also displayed enough brains and enough strength, with or without the armor, to actually take him on in a real fight. However, the Thunderbolt only masked his fears by trying to act tough. "Yeah, yeah, whatever," he told him in a snide tone, then walk off, hoping that his 'performance' was enough to mask his true fear from his teammates, as well as the Patriot himself.

Meanwhile, the announcer tried his best to keep things moving along by moving to the screen, which by this time showed the sixteenth final brackets, and more importantly, showed both Iron Fist and Surge's names being moved next to each other in the second match slot. "Well folks, it looks like the second match in the sixteenth finals is sure to be 'electrifying'!" he said with excited vigor, as well as getting the crowds attention. "For we will be having Surge going toe to tow with the martial arts sensation, Iron Fist!"

Naturally, this news caused a huge pop from the crowd, but the Avengers themselves were nowhere near as happy, as they were still angry after what they saw what happened to their teammate, the Vision. The memory of how the Surge dismantled him was still etched into their minds, especially that of the two Heroes for Hire, Luke Cage and Iron Fist, who both look at Surge from across the stage and both have cautioned looks on their faces. To which caused the normally cool and collected Luke lean in towards Fist with a look of concern. "Watch your back when you go up against that punk, Fist."

"I will," Fist replied calmly but still staring intently at his destined opponent, then turned to his worrying friend with a smirk in hopes of getting his spirits up. "Besides, we've face worse, haven't we?"

Luke answered his partner with a sly smirk. "Damn right! And for allot less money, too!"

The Wasp, being probably the most worried of the Avengers, is the one who flew over to the announcer just as he was about to announce the next match, and grew to human size as she approached him. "Hey, wait!" she called out, getting the announcers attention. "Before you go and call out the next fight, where's the Vision?"

Though the announcer was a bit baffled by how Wasp just altered her size, he still nonetheless answered her. "Oh, well, according to tournament procedures, the eliminated participants are sent to the S.H.I.E.L.D. helocarrier.

Needless to say, this answer left the Wasp, and the rest of her fellow Avengers, in a state of pure shock and disbelief.

Meanwhile, up in the S.H.I.E.L.D. helocarrier, the heavily damaged and barely functioning Vision is hooked up to the computers in the helocarrier laboratory, where he is monitored by S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel, and what was just as unsettling...the android still moaned and twitched in pain.

Back in the Garden, the announcer tried his best to console the shocked Wasp. "But, don't worry, you have my word that he's in the best of care."

Wasp, not at all comforted by the announcer's words, as well as not entirely convinced, was just about to voice the announcer her rage regarding the matter of S.H.I.E.L.D. having their damaged teammate in their midst.

However, it is Iron Man quickly stepped right in front of her to try and hold her back. "Thank you, that helps allot," he told the announcer, and after receiving a nod of acknowledgement from him, the Armored Avenger led the irate Wasp back to the Avengers's corner.

Once they made it back to their teammates, a very angry Wasp whispered this to Iron Man. "How is having Vision being in held by S.H.I.E.L.D. considered helping, Tony?" she hissed.

"Don't worry, Jan," Iron Man replied, trying to sound reassuring. "When I rebuilt Vision after our fight with Ultron, I added a little 'insurance' in case he was capture." Seeing his how that answered only gave Wasp a more shocked look, causing her to think that she thought of him as a mere machine, the Shellhead held his hands up in defense. "He'll be fine, I promise! Besides, I already got something, or accurately someone, already helping us to try and even the odds and try to end this nightmare early, remember?"

Though she still hated the idea that they couldn't save Vision, Wasp knew that any crazy idea that Iron Man could conjure up usually worked, and with a reluctant sigh, gave him a nod. "Fine." she told him, anger still remaining and thus walked off over to Ms. Marvel.

As for Spidey, he watched Wasp storm away from Iron Man with eyes wide open in fear. _"Note to self: Do not get on her nerves."_

As the rest of the Avengers talked amongst themselves, Luke Cage stood next to the second Ant-Man, Scott Lang, who appeared to just stand there, almost robotic like. Something that disturb Luke just a little. "Damn, that thing is creepy!"

Fist was also near the motionless Ant-Man, and appeared to not be at all uncomfortable around it. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I don't think it's programmed to hurt us," said Fist in a light hearted tone, indicating that he, as well as Luke, know that what was standing in front of them was NOT their fellow Hero for Hire at all, but instead a life model decoy.

Meanwhile, inside the S.H.I.E.L.D. helocarrier, more specifically, Maria Hill's office, all seemed quiet while Maria herself was busy at the bridge. That is, until the REAL Ant-Man, in miniature size and riding on the back of a winged ant, came flying in and lands on top of the office chair. As he hopped off of the top of the winged ant, Ant-Man soon grew to back to human size and found himself sitting in the chair, and thus turned his attention to Maria's personal computer. Moments later, the size-altering former cat-burglar pulled out a flash drive from out of his belt and inserted into the computer's flash port.

Just as Ant-Man did this, almost instantly, the S.H.I.E.L.D. symbol screensaver disappeared and is soon replaced by a caption balloon 'WARNING: UNAUTHORIZED SOFTWARE DETECTED," which naturally scared the Hero for Hire. Moments later, however, the caption disappeared and it changed to that of one saying "SOFTWARE APPROVED."

Naturally, Ant-Man let out a sigh of relief from such a brief scare, and thus pressed a button on his helmet to activate it's inner-com system. "Mr. Stark, this is Ant-Man, I'm downloading the files now."

Back at the Garden, Iron Man can see the S.H.I.E.L.D. files downloading into his systems from inside his helmet. "Seeing it now, Scott, and as soon as it's done, high tail it out of there and back to the Garden. Oh, and like I tell everybody, don't call me 'Mr. Stark', I'm a first name basis kind of guy."

 ** _"Uh...o-okay,"_** Ant-Man replied on the other end, taken aback by Iron Man's somewhat eccentric but well meaning demeanor. **_"Signing off now Mr. Sta-I mean, Tony."_**

Hearing this reply only made Iron Man smirk behind his faceplate. "Glad to see you're catching on. Signing off." As the Armored Avenger ended his call with the second Ant-Man, he briefly turned to the man who not only in the past was his one of his most trusted friends, Hank Pym, the first Ant-Man, but now stood before him as Yellowjacket, making his smirk turn into a disappointed scowl. For he knew that this superhero change was that of a mental disorder, one that made Yellowjacket reckless and violent. So much so, that he was considering kicking him off of the team and having him committed for not just his sake, but for everyone else around him once the tournament was over. And while he knew that Wasp would hate him for it, he knew that deep down, she was just as scared of this 'new' Hank Pym, and hoped against hope that she would realize that and forgive him for this already heart breaking decision.

Meanwhile, back on the center of the stage, the announcer goes back doing his job in addressing the audience. "All right folks, let's keep things rolling with our next match-up! One in which pits the two teams 'sharpshooters!' For up next, we have the Avengers' daring archer, Hawkeye, taking on the Thunderbolts' rowdy gunslinger, The Two-Gun Kid!"

As the crowd went wild with that announcement, the smirking, as well as confident Hawkeye pulled out his closed retractable blow from out of his back and jerked it to open up and give it is arc shape and ready for battle. Afterwards, he briefly turned to his teammates, and most notably, his former partner in S.H.I.E.L.D. as well as the original Black Widow, Natasha Romaniov. "Don't wait up, this won't take long."

Though Natasha would normally advice him not to be too cocky, she knew that he would never listen to her, as well as anyone for that matter. As such, all she could do was let out a sigh and smile back at him. "Give him hell, Clint."

"That's the plan," Hawkeye told his old partner, and with a wink, he turned and walked over to the pad.

In the Thunderbolts corner, the Two-Gun Kid is seen loading bullets into one of his six shooters, something that caught the eye of the still cautious Iron Patriot, especially since the team's 'not going too far' motto is now endangered thanks to Surge's prior actions. "Brice, what I just told Surge, it goes double for you!"

"Not to worry, boss," Two Gun told his armored superior, and then held up one of his bullets. "I'll be using rubber bullets on Robin Hood over there, it'll help me take him down without killin' him."

Though he was glad to heard this, the Patriot still gave the confident Two-Gun a demeaning glare as he gave him this stern warning. "Well, for your sake, keep it that way!"

After he place the bullet in the last chamber, Two Gun gave the gun a quick jerk to the side to close the chamber, then twirled it back into his holster. Afterwards, Two-Gun tipped his hat to the Patriot, then turned and walked over to the teleportation pad, where Hawkeye was already standing and waiting.

With both participants now on the pads, both Hawkeye and the Two-Gun kid are soon transported out of the arena and over to another unknown location, somewhere on the planet.

After watching Hawkeye and Two-Gun disappear, Spidey still appeared to be troubled an in deep thought. _"Don't get to cocky, Cupid,"_ thought the Web-Head. _"He may not be Shocker anymore, but Brice is still a pretty good shot with just about anything that can shoot."_ Moments later, Spidey briefly looked up and saw Gwen, still being watched by Victoria and grew more worried than before. _"Great, it's bad enough that Aunt May's life is on the line, but now Gwen's is too! Also doesn't help that Osborn's got this whole tournament rigged in his favor! Can anyone else on this planet be having just as much, if not worse luck than mine right now?"_

Elsewhere, in the warm sands and sunny skies of Galveston Beach in Texas, it seemed like all was quiet. From people sunbathing and playing vollyball on the beachside, many other people were sitting in the outside bar, all drinking beverages as they watched the Contest of Champions tournament on a large plasma TV.

One in which one enthusiastic Caucasian male college student tell this to his friend, an African American male as they got their drinks, two beer bottles. "Five bucks on cowboy," said the student as he took and sipped his bottle.

"Boy, you are crazy," replied the other student, then made this retort before sipping his drink. "Next round says Hawkeye wins."

Suddenly, the calm and fun feeling is soon disrupted when screams of fear are heard from afar, and before long, many more people started running from the beach in a panic. Sure enough, the cause of such chaos was that of the Green Goliath himself, the Hulk, who came speeding down from the sky and landing hard on the beach with a loud bang, causing a sand to fly everywhere.

And as for the monster that threw him, the Red Hulk, he comes flying down from the sky as well, but was heading toward towards the fallen Hulk and soon threw a straight right punch.

However, the Hulk looked up and spotted his red skinned opponent coming his way, and by pure instinct, held up his open right hand and caught the fist, stopping the attack. With an anger filled growl, the Hulk made his other hand into a fist, then landed a jab of his own into the Red Hulk's mouth, causing him to stagger away form the green skinned powerhouse and allowing him to sit up. Once back on his feet, Hulk ran towards the dazed Red Hulk and delivered a hard right backfist, nailing his enemy in his left side of his mouth and sending face first into the sand. "You've hit a new low, Ross," said the seething Green Goliath. "Making a robot double of your own daughter just to get to me?"

After angrily spitting out blood, the Red Hulk looked up at the Hulk with venom in his yellow eyes. "For your information, that was not my idea! I personally considered using the image of my little girl as bait for a trap to be blasphemous..." As he explained, the Red Hulk secretly grabbed some sand into his right hand. "JUST AS YOU MENTIONING HER NAME!" Suddenly, the Red Hulk threw the sand right into the Hulk's eyes, blinding his old foe to stumble backward. Afterwards, the Red Hulk stood up, charged in and delivered a hard right hook to the disoriented Hulk's face, followed by a left, until finally grabbing his shoulders and giving him a headbutt to his forehead.

Even though he took three punishing blows, the Hulk miraculously stayed on his feet, and thanks to his healing factor, regain his sight and saw that the Red Hulk was now running towards him and throwing a right hook, forcing him to hold up his right arm to block and fight back by throwing a left cross, where he succeeded in hitting the Red Hulk in the temple and causing him to take two steps back. Now in control, and not wanting to give his red skinned enemy a change to fight back, the Hulk ran in and went for a right hook.

Unfortunately for Jade Giant, however, the Red Hulk recovered quick enough to spot this attack and use his left hand to catch the fist. Now feeling frustrated that the Hulk was giving so much difficulty, he literally bursts into flames and gives the Hulk a right legged front front kick, followed by a left uppercut, sending Hulk up into the air and landing hard on the sand spine first. The now flaming Red Hulk stood over his fallen enemy, smiling now that he had his old foe at his mercy.

As for the Hulk himself, he soon noticed that he was now sitting right next to a now abandoned speedboat that once belonged to one of the civilians that fled, and soon started to get an idea to use it as a weapon.

Meanwhile, the Red Hulk had raised both of his fists over his head, and stood ready to pound the Hulk's head into the sand. "Well, I'll give that reach boy Osborn a pass this time," said the red skinned monster, and causing Hulk to look up at him. "Because he gave me the chance to finish you once and for all!"

Acting fast, the Hulk soon grabbed the speed boat with his bare hands, and as he sat up, swung it right into his fiery opponent's face, causing it to explode on impact. And while this did not hurt the Red Hulk, it managed to put out his flames stun him, all which left the Hulk with the opening he needed to run in and give his crimson enemy a massive left hook, causing him to fall into the watery beach side. Now with a clear advantage, the Hulk hopped up, then landed right on top of the fallen Red Hulk and proceeded to punch him again and again. It wasn't long before the Red Hulk's face swelled up and was semi-conscious, and just as the Hulk was about to pound his right fist into his enemy's damaged face, he spotted something through the corner of his eye that made him stop.

It was that of a scared woman and her little boy, both of whom were watching the brawl from a safe distance away, but were right of both behemoths. And what hit the Hulk the hardest was that the boy was wearing a T-shirt with Captain America's shield on it, reminding the Hulk of the Super Soldier he so respected.

As such, the Hulk stopped his assault and looked down at the now unconscious Red Hulk, who by this time had already revered to the human form of General Thunderbolt Ross. Knowing that his adversary was no longer a threat, the Hulk chose to remain the hero that Cap knew him to be by standing up, then grabs and picks up the outcold Ross and carried him over to the outside bar, where many of the staff and customers looked in pure horror and ran off as the Hulk came towards him. From then on, the Hulk gently placed Ross down the bar, then turned to look at the now petrified Latino male bartender. "Hey you, can you call an ambulance for this guy?"

"Uh...y-yes sir, I can do that!" replied the frightened man, then quickly made his way to the bar's phone to call 911.

As for the Hulk, he was annoyed that the bartender, as well as the rest of the customers, were still scared of him, but nonetheless, was just happy that the fight was over with. Moments later, the Jade Giant caught a glimpse of the Plasma TV and saw the image of the Iron Patriot. "Hey, who's the guy who raided Stark's closet?"

While the rest of the on lookers were too scared to speak, the Hulk got his answer when the Patriot's image changed to that of the male news anchor, Robert Docker. "Well, it would appear Norman Osborn, a.k.a., the Iron Patriot, is now back in the game as his fellow Thunderbolt, Surge, just attained a victory in England, however he did so by destroying the Vision, a member of the Avengers."

"Osborn?" asked the confused Hulk, but soon remembered what Ross told him during their fight together. "Ross said that name just as he was about to pummel me."

As the Hulk contemplated, the astral form of Bruce Banner appeared by sitting on a bar stool and right next to his giant green counterpart. "Yeah, if I recall, he's also the owner of Oscorp, and weapons manufacturing company. But apparently, he died months ago."

This revelation only made the Hulk growled like an angry bare, no knowing the name of the man whose sent Ross and the Abomination after him, and probably set up the explosion back in New Mexico. "Oh, he's about to be." said the Hulk as he pounded both of his massive fists together. "Because if he's the one putting me through this mess...HE'S THE ONE I'M GONNA SMASH!"


	9. Chapter 9

**32ND FINALS: HAWKEYE VS. TWO-GUN KID**

The place was of battle this time was that of Mexico City, Mexico, inside the large square that was the Zocalo, granted the same laser ropes to keep the Mexican people out of the battle station for their safety. With the special space made for the combatants were special pillars, which either made the match more challenging, or in the case of the participants, Hawkeye and Two-Gun Kid, provided them with cover as a fair chance to defend against their bullets and arrows. It wasn't long before Hawkeye and Two-Gun finally arrived at the Zocalo, and in front of hundreds of the Mexican fans watching from the other side of the energy ropes, as well as the large floating halo-screen floating above them.

Hawkeye couldn't help but smirk a little upon seeing the cheering people, as well as look around the Zacalo landscape. "Mexico, huh?" the brash archer said to himself. "Well, too bad I can't stay long, 'cause I could sure go for a margarita when this is over."

At the moment, a Ref Bot floated in, and of course, showed the announcer's face on it's screen. "Well, gentlemen, before we get started, I trust that the both of you are using none lethal ammunition?"

Two-Gun answered this question by pulling out on of his guns and held it up for the Ref Bot. "Nothing but rubber bullets in these guns, hoss."

The announcer, seemingly convinced of Two-Gun's words, gave him a nod and mentally ordered the Ref Bot to hover over to Hawkeye, allowing the Thunderbolt to twirl his gun back into his holster. "And you, Hawkeye?"

Though he rolled his eyes in annoyance at first, Hawkeye nevertheless briefly placed his bow in his left hand, all so he could use his other hand to take his quiver off of his back to show the announcer his arrows. "Here, hurry up and see for yourself so we can get this over with."

As the Ref Bot moved closer so the announcer could inspect Hawkeye's arrows, Two-Gun looked at Hawkeye with a raised eyebrow and seemed amused by his irritation. "Well, ain't you tenacious," said the Thunderbolt with an almost taunting tone. "Little nervous on how I'm about to whip you in front of the whole world?"

Hawkeye turned to Two-Gun and gave him an annoyed, as well as unimpressed look. "Yeah you wish, Buffalo Bill," he retorted. "In fact, I eat losers like you for breakfast."

Two Gun, however, only chuckled at the archer's words. "Oh, one of us is a loser all right, son, but it ain't be me. And in just a few minutes, I'll prove that."

The announcer could sense the tension between Hawkeye and Two-Gun Kid, and thus took it as a sign to get things underway. "Yes, well, I've seen pretty much what I need to see," said the clearly nervous announcer, who then mentally ordered the Ref Bot to back away from Hawkeye, which allowed him to place his quiver back onto his back. "Now, let's get this party started!" With that said, he commanded the Ref Bot to hover straight up into the air, and caused cheers from the Mexican crowd as he said these words. "Fighters...BEGIN!"

Two-Gun wasted no time in making the first move by drawing out his guns and opening fire at Hawkeye, aiming for his belt buckle.

Hawkeye quickly sprinted to the left side to avoid the rubber bullets coming his way, and in the process, pulled out an taser arrow from his quiver, took aim and fired at Two-Gun's belt buckle.

Upon seeing the arrow, Two-Gun fired a shot and successfully destroyed the arrow before it could hit him. Moments later, the two skilled shooters hid behind two pillars, both to take cover. While hiding, Two-Gun leaned out to see Hawkeye loading another arrow, and took this moment to fire a shot, aiming for the archer's exposed shoulder to slow him down.

However, Hawkeye spotted this through the corner of his eye and once again took cover, allowing the rubber bullet to bounce off of the pillar instead. Afterwards, the archer popped out behind the pillar with another taser arrow drawn, took aim and fired, but this hitting the Colt Revolver out of Two-Gun's hand, giving him a small shock in the process.

"Damn it!" barked Two-Gun, who then retaliated by firing carefully aimed shot with his remaining gun. This time, however, the rubber bullets hit their mark with the first bullet Hawkeye's hand, causing him to release his bow and drop it to the floor. After disarming the Avenger, Two-Gun then took aim at his belt buckle, but not before getting a few words out. "I do admire your skill, son," Two-Gun admitted somewhat begrudgingly. "But that still doesn't change the fact that you made the world's dumbest mistake in bring a damn bow and arrow to a gun fight."

Even at a disadvantage, Hawkeye still gave Two-Gun a sly smile of defiance, as he did with all of his enemies. "Pal, if I had a dollar for every time I heard that, I'd be as rich as Stark."

With a scoff, Two-Gun nonetheless fired one shot to end the match.

Luckily for Hawkeye, he was still quick enough on his feet and dashed to the right side, then with his right hand, he reached back and pulled out a boomerang arrow from his quiver, and threw it right at Two-Gun himself.

However, Two-Gun merely sidestepped to the left side, easily avoiding the arrow and allowing it to pass right by him. Even though the arrow missed it's target, the boomerang arrow lived up to it's namesake by turning around in mid-air and headed back over the gunslinger himself.

Sadly though, Two-Gun could hear the arrow's whizzing sound coming from behind, thus prompting him to spin around and shoot the arrow out of the sky before it could him him. "Well, that was just pathetic." Suddenly, Two-Gun's moment of glory was short lived when another one of Hawkeye's arrows came flying out of nowhere and ended up hitting his right angle, where upon impact, it caused a bolo to wrap around and tie his feet together, causing him to fall to the floor.

It was later revealed that the bolo arrow was fired by Hawkeye, who had just recovered his bow while Two-Gun wasn't look. "Yeah, pathetic is a word that suits you all better, cowboy."

Now frustrated, but still holding on to his gun, Two-Gun let out an aggravated grunt as he rolled on his back and fired two shots at the recovered Hawkeye.

Fortunately for the archer though, he jumped up into the air to avoid the bullets, and as he flipped over Two-Gun, he pointed his bow and arrow downward and fired another taser arrow, which ended up hitting Two-Gun's belt buckle, and which in turned, caused the gunslinger to be consumed and frozen his place by the same yellow energy that covered the previous combatants the lost the previous matches.

After he landed safely on his feet, and with the Mexican people cheering on his victory, the Ref Bot hovered over to the victorious archer, with the announcer stating this to the already roaring crowd. "Here is your winner...Hawkeye!"

Hawkeye retracted his bow and placed it back in his belt, then turned and looked down at his fallen opponent. "Some gunslinger you turned out to be."

**WINNER: HAWKEYE**

Back in the Garden, everyone who supported the Thunderbolts stood in shock while others who supported the Avengers cheered for Hawkeye and his victory. Even the Avengers cheered for their teammate, all except the Black Panther, who nodded silently, but was still proud of wise-cracking Archer. _"Well done, my friend."_

Another one of the Avengers impressed with Hawkeye's win was Spidey, despite the fact that he wasn't very fond of him at first. "Wow, nice to see that Hawkeye's aim is as sharp as his tongue," said the Web-Slinger. "Especially when it comes to guys like Shocker."

Cap heard Spidey's words and thus said this to the Web-Head. "Well, he's not the World's Greatest Marksman for nothing, Spider-Man."

Also pleased with how things were turning out for the Avengers was that of Iron Man, but his happiness increase when he soon received a message from J.A.R.V.I.S. via his helmet. "Sir, the download of S.H.I.E.L.D's files is complete."

"Great," Iron Man replied. "Now we just need to wait for two more things."

Meanwhile, in the S.H.I.E.L.D. helocarrior's lab, the still suffering torso of the Vision was still moaning in agony on the table, until finally, he stopped moving and his eyes dim black, becoming completely motionless and leaving the scientists baffled.

Back in the Garden, Iron Man looked inside his helmet and saw another download beside the S.H.I.E.L.D. files. It was that of a digital head that represented the data, and consciousness of the Vision. "What...? Where am I?" asked the Vision. "Am I...am I inside a computer program?"

"Yeah, Vision," Iron Man replied, trying to break the news to the disembodied android gently. "One that's inside my armor."

"Your armor?" asked a confused Vision. "But how?"

"Your body was destroyed by Osborn's supercharged goon," explained the Shell-head. "But don't worry, once we win this tournament, we'll get it, fix it and make you whole again."

Moments after trying to reassure the Vision, Iron man received another message from J.A.R.V.I.S. "Indeed, but sir, if I may ask, what is the 'third' and final thing to what you are waiting for?"

Suddenly, Iron Man noticed something small, like that of a housefly, coming flying in, but thanks to the zooming-in system in his helmet, the Shell-Head knew what it really was and smirked. "Well, not exactly a 'thing', but a person."

And that person was that of Ant-Man, who came flying into the stadium by a winged ant and to the life model decoy, which was standing oddly by.

This caused Iron Man to press a button on his right gauntlet, which caused the life model decoy of Ant-Man to shrink down.

Once he saw his robotic double shrink down, Ant-Man jumped off the flying ant and begun to grow back to normal size, doing it so fast, that nobody noticed the switch...except of course for two people.

The first being that of Luke Cage, who just noticed the real Ant-Man's return. _"About damn time."_

The other being that of the original Ant-Man, Yellowjacket, who watched his successor walk towards Iron Man with envy, making him hate the Shell-Head for not coming to ask him for his help first.

As for Iron Man himself, he welcomed the Ant-Man back to the Garden. "Great work, Scott! But we're gonna have to pop the cork on the champagne later, your match is coming up next."

"On it!" Ant-Man replied with smile, then quickly ran over to his fellow Heroes for Hire, Luke Cage and Iron Man, who by now were with the rest of the Avengers seeing Hawkeye's return.

Spidey watched as Ant-Man joined his fellow heroes, and was still somewhat bewildered by how he returned just a few minutes ago. _"Okay, I know I'm the last person on the planet to think this, but man did he make a weird entrance,"_ thought the Web-Head, but as he turned to the screen, his eyes opened in shock when he saw who Ant-Man was fighting next. _"Oh no!"_

Meanwhile, Hawkeye was basking in the phrase he was receiving from his teammates, and most notably, was happy to Natasha, the Black Widow, standing right in front of him. "Not bad, Mr. Barton," she told him in a somewhat playful and flirtatious manner.

"Really? Just not bad?" Hawkeye retorted with a smirk. "I was leaning towards 'brilliant.'"

Before the smiling Natasha could reply, she is halted when she, as well as everyone in the stadium, heard the announcer's voice.

"All right, New York!" said the announcer. "It's time to keep the action going as we move on to the next match! For up next, we have the Avengers' size-altering Ant-Man taking on the Thunderbolt's own version of a certain Web-Slinger, the Scarlet Spider!"

This made the Wall-Crawler's heart sink, for his best friend was just about to fight one of his teammates, all the while wearing and being manipulated by the symbiotic suit that he was wearing on his body.

Also hit hard by this announcer was that of Gwen Stacy, who heard this from the skybox along with Victoria Hand and was understandably worried. _"Harry..."_

Back on the platform, and in the Avengers camp, the second Ant-Man is seen receiving some 'prep talk' from Iron Fist. "All right, Scott," said Fist. "Do not underestimate your opponent, and remember, a true fighter fights with the mind!"

Luke seemed a bit annoyed with Fist's philosophical advice, and decides to say this to the now confused Ant-Man. "I think what Mr. Miyagi over here is trying to say is good luck."

"Right, thanks guys," said a rather sheepish Ant-Man, then walked over to the Teleportation pad.

Back in the Thunderbolts corner, young Harry Osborn, wearing the Scarlet Spider, was just about to head off to the pad. However, he is briefly stopped by the Iron Patriot when he placed his hand on his shoulder. "Harry, I trust will not disappoint me?" he asked, earning a nod from his symbiote wearing son. "Good, now go make your old man proud."

Smiling behind his symbiote composed mask, the Scarlet Spider gave the Patriot a nod, the proceeded over to the teleportation pad, more determined than ever to earn his father's respect.

Once the two combatants were on the pads, they were soon transported to another unknown location somewhere in the world for their match, which in the process, leaving Spidey to quietly pray that his old friend doesn't do anything that he would regret for the rest of his life.


	10. Chapter 10

**32ND FINALS: ANT-MAN VS. SCARLET** **SPIDER**

The place of battle this time was the Ayutthyaya Historical Park in Thailand, where the laser ropes have now been set up around the Wat Phra Sri Sanphet. Moments later, two lights flashed and formed into the matches two participants, Ant-Man and the Scarlet Spider, both appearing before cheering fans on the other side of the laser ropes.

For Ant-Man, he couldn't help bu marvel at where he was, for him, being in a different country and culture was indeed mind-blowing. His only regret being that he was unable to take his daughter with him to see these ruins first hand, and further more, under more peaceful circumstances.

As for the Scarlet Spider, he just stood there, ignoring the crowds cheers and shaking with anticipation to start the match and prove to his father, whom he knew was watching, that he was not a weakling. As such, the more antsy and intense he felt, the more the suit began to increase his muscle mass, as well as his desire to pound Ant-Man into a pulp, all to make an example out of him for another person he knew was watching, Spidey. Someone whom at one point he called a brother, but was now his most hated enemy.

It wasn't long before the Ref Bot showed up on the scene, with the announcer's face on display on it's screen. "Welcome to Thailand, gentlemen," he said pleasantly. "I trust that you're familiar with the rules and to keep this a nice clean fight?" he received his answered when both the understanding Ant-Man and the irritable but cooperative Scarlet Spider both nodded to him. "Well then, let's not waste any more time!" The Ref Bot soon floated up high into the air and finally set the stage by letting out the large cry for the crowd below to hear. "BEGIN!"

The Scarlet Spider wasted no time as he held up his right hand in a web-shooting motion, just like Spidey, and shot a black, gooey line at Ant-Man's feet, causing him to quickly side-step to the left to avoid it and allow the line to hit the ground instead. However, this does nothing to deter the symboite wearing teen, for he quickly web-zipped forward, and upon landing on the ground, turned to the left to face Ant-Man and threw a left legged front kick, intending to hit the former thief's belt buckle.

Seeing this attack coming his way, Ant-Man instinctively shrunk down, dodging the Spider's kick and ended up the size of an insect on the ground. As he looked up, he saw that the Spider's left foot landed right in front of him, and once the Spider himself looked down and spotted him, he raised his right foot and attempted to step on him, forcing the size altering Hero for Hire to jump and flip backward and narrowly avoid the Spider's foot. Once he landed, he spotted the Spider continuing his assault by raising his left hand and throw it downward in another attempt to squash him, thus forcing Ant-Man to jumping and roll to the left side and allow the Spider's hand to slam the ground instead, and deciding to make his move, he jumped on top of the Spider' hand, ran all the way up his arm, then jumped up and threw a hard right uppercut.

Thanks to Henry Pym's design, even in his shrunken form, the wearing of the Ant-Man helmet still maintained the same level of strength he possessed fully sized. And it's this fact in which THIS Ant-Man proved, for when his tiny fist connected with the Scarlet Spider's jaw, it still managed to knock him off of his feet and land hard on to the ground. Once the Scarlet Spider was on his back, the shrunken Ant-Man landed on his young opponent's chest, then turned and proceeded run down the Scarlet Spider's belt buckle. However, he is stopped when he felt both of his feet sinking into what felt like tar, and as he looked down, he saw that it was the Spider's symbiote suit keeping him 'grounded.'

Moments later, and still lying on his back, the Scarlet Spider looked down on his chest and spotted Ant-Man struggling to get free, and thus used his right hand to pluck him off of his suit. As he got back up on his feet, the Spider was now seeing in anger with how the bug sized hero humiliated him, and wanted nothing more than to crush him in front of the whole world. "Oh, you little...!" Suddenly, the angry teen received another surprise when Ant-Man grew back into human size and delivered a hard double legged mule kick to the Scarlet Spider's chest.

With the human sized Ant-Man in mid air and the Scarlet Spider reeling backward, both combatants saved themselves by flipping backward and landing on their feet. Moments later, it is the Scarlet Spider who attacked by taking his right hand, and strangely, made it stretch forward and grabbed Ant-Man by the shoulder. Once having the Hero for Hire in his grip, the Scarlet Spider pulled his outstretched arm backward and proceeded to pull Ant-Man towards him.

Knowing that he has to act fast, Ant-Man went to use a tactic that he once used in aiding his fellow Avengers fight off against Galactus in that he began to grow large and thus transformed into that of the enormous identity known as Giant-Man! After growing, Giant Man soon took his now enlarged left hand to grab the Scarlet Spider and picked him up as if he were an action figure.

The Thai crowd, those who supported the Avengers, all cheered upon seeing this moment, and it wasn't just them. For back in the states, more accurately, in the office of Heroes for Hire back in New York, the match is being watched by that of Ant'Man's daughter, Cassandra 'Cassie' Lang, and the team's secretary, Jenny Royce, both of whom watched the match from a T.V. on her work desk.

Cassie watched on with excited glee, further proud of her father for being a superhero. "Yeah, get him, Dad!"

As for Jenny, she too smiled at Ant'Man's efforts, but at the same time, was a little worried. For while she knew that Iron Fist had trained Scott in martial arts, she wondered if it was going to be enough to get him through the match. And what bothered her the most was wondering if letting his daughter watch was a good idea. All in all, she hoped for the best for the best.

Back in Thailand, Scott, as Giant Man, still has a strong grip on the still struggling Scarlet Spider, but not strong enough to crush him. "Easy there, kiddo!" said Giant Man, trying his hardest to be nice, despite the Spider becoming more and more hostile. "Look, it's best that you just give this up! There's no way you can beat me like this!"

Suddenly, the Spider, consumed with pure rage, managed to pull his right arm free and stretched it upward with a clinched fist and managed to punch Giant Man in his right eye. This loosened the enormous hero's grip, allowing the Spider to pull out his other arm while pulling his right hand back, and with both hand pried Giant-Man's fingers open. Once he was freed, the Spider leaped up and grabbed a whole of Giant Man's throat, where he then proceeded to use his suit's strength to choke him.

As Giant Man gasped and searched for air, he could start to feel light headed and was just seconds away from fainting. But knowing that falling to the ground at this size would cause significant collateral damage, as well inadvertently crush the Thai audience, Giant Man acted by quickly shrinking back down to the insect size of Ant-Man, which freed him from the Scarlet Spider's make-shift choke hold. With the help of his helmet, the shrunken Ant-Man mentally called a flying ant and safely landed on it's back, allowing the Scarlet Spider to fall to the ground.

The Scarlet Spider managed to land safely on his feet however, and was now angrier than ever, which had the side effect of causing small, liquid tendrils to move around his body like worms. "What's the matter," he roared, actually scaring the spectators watching. "You'd much rather fight me as a giant, as opposed to fighting like a REAL man? Show yourself!"

Thanks to the Ref-Bot, the Scarlet Spider's outburst is seen worldwide, including the people watching the Garden. While some of the Thunderbolts 'fans' cheered for this kind of intensity, it only scared the people supporting the Avengers. Also disturbed by this development was Gwen Stacy, who fearfully watched her boyfriend's aggressive behavior from the skybox. And the Avengers, who watched from their corner with concerned look on their faces.

But none more so that of Spidey, who knew full well that the reason for his best friend's behavior was that of the suit he was wearing...and how it reminded him of the black suit that he once wore. _"Oh man,"_ thought the worried Web-Head. _"I was afraid of this! It's the suit! Harry, please, don't let that thing make you do something that you're going to regret!"_

Back in Thailand, The irate Scarlet Spider is swatting away at the small Ant-Man trying to hit him. Finally, it wasn't until the third swat attempt in which Ant-Man jumped off of the flying ant, then grew back to human size and went for a right legged flying kick, with the Spider's masked face being the target.

However, the Spider spotted this, and thus grabbed hold of Ant-Man's ankle with both hands, then spun around and threw him off to the side. Though Ant-Man managed to flip backward and land on his feet, the Spider shot a line which successfully hit and stuck to the size-altering Hero for Hire's right shoulder. This allowed the symbiote wearing teen to zip over and plant both of his feet into Ant-Man's chest, taking him down to the ground. Now wanting to end this, the Spider jumped up off of Ant-Man's chest and up high into the air. Once airborne, the Spider flipped backward, and as he looked down, he shot two lines that ended up hitting the ground, and more specifically, both sides of the dazed Ant-Man. A split second later, the symbiote clad Thunderbolt made his move by zipping down and kick both of his feet downward, intending to ram both of his feet into Ant-Man's belt buckle.

The Ant-Man spotted this and thus shrunk down once again and called his flying ant to swoop in and pick him up, causing the Scarlet Spider to ram his feet into the ground instead, creating a crack. After missing his target, the now fuming Scarlet Spider looked around for Ant-Man, and thanks to the suit enhancing his senses, he soon heard the buzzing sound of the flying ant coming his way. As such, he took both of his hands and claps them together where he heard the buzzing. Once he opened his hands up, he looked down and saw a now dead flying ant, as well as an unconscious Ant-Man.

An act which was saw by a stunned Thai crowd, and recorded by the Ref Bot, which broadcasted it throughout the entire globe. Especially back in the Heroes for Hire officer, where a scared Cassie, as well as Jenny, saw what just happened to Ant-Man. "DAD!"

Back in Thailand, the Scarlet Spider had an evil smile behind his mask as he now had Ant-Man literally in the palm of his right hand. "Big or small, a chump is a chump!" said the Spider in a ruthless tone, then raised his left fist with the intent of squashing him like his namesake. "Too bad you won't be around long enough to learn it!"

Back in the Garden, Spidey, along with his teammates as well as some of the people in the audience, stood horrified at what the Scarlet Spider planned to do with Ant-Man, leaving the Web-Head, and the equally mortified Gwen to unknowingly yell this in unison. "HARRY, NO!"

Just as the Scarlet Spider was about to finish Ant-Man off, he is stopped when he heard the voice of his father, the Iron Patriot, speak to him via a com-link in his ear. **" _Harry, don't even think about it!"_**

"Huh, Dad?" asked the confused Scarlet Spider. "But, I need to-"

 _ **"Need to follow the rules!"**_ the Patriot replied sternly. _**"In that you defeat your opponent, not kill him! In time, we will dispose of the Avengers, including the one that you currently have at your mercy, but until than, we do not alter the plan!"**_

The Scarlet Spider appeared to be completely dumbfounded, which caused him to calm down and the symbiote tendrils to die down and return his costume to normal. But even in feeling at east, the Scarlet Spider was still hesitant in sparring Ant-Man's life.

Back in the Garden, the Patriot saw his son's reluctance on the viewing screen, and thus gave him this angry response. "Finish the match! Right now!"

In Thailand, the Scarlet Spider let out a groan of disappointment, then took the tip of his left index finger and pressed Ant-Man's belt buckle as if he was pressing a button. Sure enough, this action caused yellow energy to come out and consume Ant-Man, freezing him in a defeated posture.

Through the Ref Bot, the announcer saw the Scarlet Spider ending the match non-violently, and thus let out a sigh of relief before mentally commanding the Ref Bot to hover down to the victorious young Thunderbolt, but still keeping it at a safe distance. "Ladies and gentlemen, your winner...The Scarlet Spider!"

The Scarlet Spider did not hear the announcer declaring him the winner, nor did he even hear the cheers of the Thunderbolts fans in the Thai spectators, for he was too transfixed on the defeated and still insect sized Ant-Man still in his hand. _"Consider this your lucky day, Ant-boy!"_ he thought, then looked up into the sky as he soon remembered the one person he wanted to truly rip apart. _"But Peter, what I got in store for you is worse...MUCH worse!"_

**WINNER: SCARLET SPIDER**


	11. Chapter 11

**PAINFUL STING OF LOST LOVE**

Like his fellow Thunderbolts before him, the Scarlet Spider arrives back in the Garden and is greeted by the audience with a mixture of cheers and boos.

From the skybox, a smiling Victoria is applauding the returning Scarlet Spider, while Gwen just sat there in hushed silence. After clapping, Victoria noticed Gwen just sitting there looking worried, and was quite puzzled. "Gwen, aren't you glad that you're boyfriend just won his match?"

"Huh?" Gwen asked, snapping out of her worried state and looked at Victoria with a small faint smile. "Oh, uh, yeah, I am! I'm just...speechless on how good he was. Totally proud of him."

Victoria could see through the young girl's smile just by looking at her, and knew that wasn't telling the truth. Normally, a teen-aged girl and her less than stable boyfriend would be none of her concern. But, even with the task by Norman Osborn himself to keep an eye on her an entertained for the sake of his son's sanity, she chose to smile at Gwen and humor her to try and not upset her. "Fair enough, after all, Harry's performance has me at a loss of words myself, and I see things like this on a daily basis."

"Yeah, well, that's Harry for you," said Gwen, trying to be pleasant so Victoria wouldn't catch on. "You never really know what to expect."

Victoria chuckled at that response, knowing that there was some truth to that. Suddenly, however, she felt her cellphone going off, indicating that one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents was calling her. "I'm sorry, Gwen, I'm having a call that I need to take."

"No, it's okay, go right ahead," Gwen replied in a friendly tone and watched as she got up from the chair and proceeded to the door, silently overjoyed that this might be her only chance to call her father.

But just before she left, Victoria pulled out a small, black box that had a flashing light and stuck it to the wall as she left the room.

The device was that of a signal jammer, all in which produced waves that distorted cellphone signals in a nearby area. A fact in which Gwen found out the hard way, for as she pulled out her phone, she could see that it read 'no service'. "What?" Gwen whispered to herself dumbfounded, then turned and looked out to the door with a worried look, knowing in her gut that Victoria was on to her.

As for Victoria herself, she was out in the hall a a good distance away from the room, more specifically, form the signal jammer, so she can answer her cellphone. "Hand here," she answered coldly, but her eyes grew wide with shocked with what she heard next. "What?! What do you-" At that moment, Victoria had to stop herself from raising her voice, then went back to the call with an angry whisper. "What do you mean The Hulk past Ross?!" As she listened to the voice on the other end, Victroia let out a sigh to maintain her composure. "Well, what's the Hulk's current position? All right then, send Sterns!"

Meanwhile, back on the stage, the Scarlet Spider had returned to the Thunderbolts' corner, much to the dismay of Spidey, watching his troubled from from the Avengers corner.

As for the announcer, he simply went back to performing his duty and addressing the audience. "Well folks, I'm pleased to say that we now have our third match for the 16th Finals!" At that moment, he directed everyone's attention to the screen, which showed the 16th Final brackets, and more specifically, the two news added in the third match slot. "In that we now have the victorious Scarlet Spider going up against the Avengers' daring archer, Hawkeye!"

Hawkeye could only sneer after hearing this announcement. "Great, gotta fight someone who not only looks and moves like Parker, but like him, is still going through puberty."

Spidey heard this, and naturally, being the troubled Scarlet Spider's best friend, took offence to bow carrying teammate's words and angrily walked towards him. "Hey, listen cupid-!"

Before a fight between the two heroes could occur, Cap soon stepped in between Spidey and Hawkeye and separated them. "Easy you two!" he told them sternly. "We're fighting Thunderbolts, not each other!" As he continued, the Sentinel of Liberty turned his attention to Hawkeye. "And Clint, you know as well as I do that Peter's friend is just another victim in Osborn's scheme."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Hawkeye replied irritably, then let out a sigh before turning to Spidey. "And don't worry, kid. When our match comes up, I'll try to stop your friend without hurting him...too badly."

"Thanks, that's comforting," Spidey answered replied with a sarcastic tone, but then turned and saw the Scarlet Spider standing in front of his armored father, and clinches his fist in anger and frustration. _"You may have allot of people, including your son, fooled into into thinking you're a hero, Osborn,"_ he thought. _"But I still see you as the psychotic, heartless monster that you are! I will save Aunt May, Harry, and Gwen from your sick game, and I hope and pray that we get pitted against each other. Because I swear, on my soul, I will make you pay for all of this!"_

Moments later, the screen switched back to the 32 Finals brackets, to which made the announcer take the stage again. "All right folks, we've had great matches from the guys, now it's time for the ladies to show their stuff! For in our next match-up, we have the Avengers size-changing Wasp taking on the Thunderbolts' energy constructing Songbird! Ladies, if you would please step up to the teleportation pads!"

Songbird heard the announcement and she walked over to the teleportation pad, ignoring the lust filled eyes of her male comrades and struggling to maintain a professional demeanor.

As for the pint-sized Wasp, she too was just about fly to the teleportation pads, but she stopped she caught a brief glimpse of Yellowjacket, and soon frowned...

_...Which caused her to flashback to when she was in human size and in the lab of the Avengers Mansion, just hours before the tournament was set to begin, and was in the middle of a heated argument with an irate Yellowjacket with his way of 'handling' crime."What do you mean you won't help me?!" barked Yellowjacket. "Aren't you the one who said that we don't talk to villains, we just hit them? Well, that's I'm doing Jan! Only this time, I plan on hitting them so hard, they won't get back up again and hurt anyone!"_

_"That's NOT what we do, Hank!" Wasp shot back. "Geez, you're starting to sound like that Punisher guy on the news-"_

_This caused the already angry Yellowjacket to literally step into Wasp face as he gave this remark. "Well, maybe he has the right idea!"_

_Wasp quickly took two steps back to create space between herself and Yellowjacket, as well as look at him with an aghast expression. "Are you even listening to yourself right now?!" she asked. "You're talking about crossing a line to which there's no coming back from! A line that the Hank Pym I knew would never cross."_

_"I'M NOT HANK!" snapped an enraged Yellowjacket upon hearing that name. "He was a useless, spineless worm who needed to be gone! And you what...I'm staring to realize that your just as useless as he was!"_

_Needless to say, a wide-eyed Wasp was shocked to hear those words, as well as feeling like knife had just been rammed into her heart. "What? What are you-?"_

_"I'm saying that I'm through arguing," Yellowjacket said coldly, then pointed his right index finger at Wasp, who appeared to be on the verge of tears. "And I'm through with you!" With that said, the callous Yellowjacket storm passed Wasp, and just as he made it to the door, he briefly reached in his belt to pull out the small box containing the engagement ring he plan to give to his now former partner, then looked at her one last time. "And to think, I was actually considering throwing my life away by asking you to be my partner for life!" With a look of pure disgust, Yellowjacket threw the box at Wasp's feet, then turned and walked out of the lab._

_As for Wasp, she just dropped to her knees after getting her heart shattered. All of the punches and laser blasts she endured from all the villains she faced were now nothing compared to the pain that she was feeling now. And as she picked up the box to open to see the ring inside, it caused the tears to finally pour down and all she could do was sob uncontrollably..._

...Back in the present, Wasp reminiscing of that painful memory is brought to a half when she heard Cap calling to her. "Wasp!"

"Huh? Yeah, Cap?" Wasp replied, snapping back to reality.

"I said are you all right?" replied a concerned Cap, then pointed forward at the teleportation pads, and more specifically, the already waiting Songbird. "Your match is up next?

Shaking away the painful sting of lost love, Wasp looked at Cap with a determined expression. "Yeah, I'm fine, just got sidetracked. Don't worry, this match is in the bag." With that reply, the Wasp flew to over to the pads to begin her match.

However, this moment caused a worried Spidey to walk over to Cap. "Is she okay, Cap? She's acting like something's bothering her, and it's not the match."

"I agree," Cap replied with a reluctant tone, but then turned to the Web-Head to give him reassurance. "But you don't have to worry about Wasp, Spider-Man. She's always been able to shake off personal problems and focus on the task at hand."

Though he gave the Super-Soldier an understanding nod, Spidey was still worried as he turned and watched the Wasp turn back to human size to step onto the pad. _"I sure hope so."_

Meanwhile, as both female members of their respected teams stand ready to be teleported, Wasp pulled up her gloves, trying to 'get her head in the game'. _"Okay Jan, get it together,"_ she thought. _"Sure, you heart's still shattered beyond repair..."_ At one point, the founding member of the Avengers briefly looked up at Songbird, who gave her a condescending glare. _"But on the plus side, you know who to take it out on!"_

With both Wasp and Songbird still locking eyes on one another, the pads activate and both combatants and transported out of the arena to parts unknown.


	12. Chapter 12

**32ND FINALS: THE WASP VS. SONGBIRD**

The Amazon rainforest near Manaus, Brazil, a beautiful sight for anyone, whether it be someone who's lived in the terrain for years, or visiting it for the first time. But on this occasion, much like many of the other locations around the world, it now served as a battleground for the two upcoming participants of the Contest of Champions tournament. And for this match in particular, the yellow energy ropes now surround and enclose the Amazon ecoregions that were mapped out by the World Wide Fund for Nature, as part of an agreement with S.H.I.E.L.D.

Moments later, two flashes of light occurred and the matches participants, the Wasp and Songbird, finally appeared in a green grassed area. It didn't take long for the two heroines to spot each other, and greeted one another with a glare, until suddenly, another large lighted flashed right above them, causing them to look up and see that it formed a large haloscreen in the sky, one that was large enough for the people of Manaus to see the match.

It wasn't long before a Ref-Bot came flying in between the two female competitors, and that they were soon greeted by the announcer via viewing screen. "Ladies, welcome to the Amazon rainforest, right next to the beautiful city of Manaus."

This came as somewhat of a pleasant surprise for the Wasp. "Brazil?" she asked the announced, and soon looked up at the haloscreen and was astounded to see the people of Brazilian people cheering all across the city, while they were watching in the streets or the balconies of buildings. A sight to which made her smile a little. "Well, I always did want to vacation here."

Songbird only let out a disgusted scoff at the Avenger upon hearing her words. "Yeah, I bet you did, rich girl."

The announcer, seeing the tension brewing between the two ladies, saw this as a chance to get the match started. "All righty, let's get this show on the road!" he said with haste, then mentally commanded the Ref Bot to fly high above into the sky to give the female fighters the room that they needed. "BEGIN!"

An anxious Songbird wasted no time in letting out a large scream, which caused pink energy to come out, and thus mentally constructed it into a giant fist, which she then commanded to head straight towards Wasp.

Fortunately for the Wasp though, she saw this attack coming and shrunk down to insect size, and once her wings appeared, she flew energy the energy fist, successfully dodging it. After avoiding the attack, the size-altering feisty female flew straight towards Songbird until she literally ended up right in her face and gave her a sting blast right between her eyes.

For the pink haired Thunderbolt, such a small blast felt like a straight punch to the face, one that was hard enough to make her walk backwards into a straight into a tree. After taking a moment to shake off the effects of the sting blast, she looked at the Wasp with an angry death glare. "All right, Pixie! You want to play?" At that moment, the Thunderbolt soon her mental implants connected to her harness pad to set it into her secondary setting: the Sonic scream. "LET'S PLAY!" Those last two words came out in a furious and powerful shockwave of a scream which ripped through most of the trees in the forest, and actually sent the Wasp flying and flipping backward in mid-air and landing hard on the ground.

After such a hard landing, Wasp held her aching head. "Geez, even if your name is 'Songbird', I wouldn't want to hear you sing with a voice like that!" Suddenly, Wasp heard Songbird's screaming stop and thus took this as a good time as any to fly back up into the air, and once she saw the Thunderbolt, flew straight towards her and tried to attack her again.

Songbird soon spotted the Wasp coming her way, and knowing that she'll most likely try and give her another sting blast, she mentally changed the mode on her harness back to energy constructs, and with another scream, pink energy surrounded her entire person like armor. And just as Wasp fired another blast, it was deflected by the Thunderbolt's newly constructed armor. Naturally, Wasp is let totally stunned by this, and as she floated there in shock, she gave Songbird the opportunity to mental command her energy armor to flow down her body like water and into her left hand, to which she then gave the stunned Wasp an energy based backhand, sending the Avenger down hard to the ground. As Songbird watched the Wasp writhed in pain on the ground, she decided end this quickly by taking her energy consumed left finger tip and attempted to press her small opponent's belt buckle.

However, upon regaining her senses, Wasp saw the finger coming her way and thus wrapped her wings around herself so she can roll to the right side and caused Songbird to press the soil instead. After stopping, Wasp soon got into a kneeling position, and with her wings, took to the air once more. From then on, the Wasp once again flew right into Songbird's face. "Okay, definitely more to you than just an ear-bleeding loud voice."

Now more irritated with her pint-sized opponent than ever, Songbird attempted to try and just swat her away like a common housefly.

Wasp, of course, effortlessly avoided it, which aided in her tactic to play on the Thunderbird's anger. "For example, the fact that your way to slow!"

After hearing the Wasp's insult, a new fuming Songbird tried to swat her with her right hand, only to miss and watch the tiny Avenger fly away from her. Not wanting her opponent to get away, Songbird stood up, concentrated, and with another loud scream, formed a pink spiked ball which shot straight at the Wasp herself.

Wasp then looked over her shoulder to see the energy construct coming her way, and though it scared her a little, she saw it as part of her plan. She looked straight ahead to see a tree, and though she hated to do it, she flew down and allowed the construct to hit and knock the tree out of the ground instead. Afterwards, the small, winged Avenger turned and sped back towards Songbird, and flew lower, and in the process, grew to human size in order to throw a leg sweep.

However, Songbird hopped up into the air to avoid the sweep, and while in the air, she let out another scream to form a pink battering ram an attempted to squash the fully grown Wasp while she was on the ground.

Fortunately for Wasp though, she managed to shrink down and fly off, dodging the ram and avoiding being squashed. Once she was in her insect size, Wasp waited for Songbird to hit the ground then flew straight towards her while charging up her hands, intending to fire a blast at her opponent's belt buckle.

Sadly though, Songbird spotted the Wasp coming and was quick enough to use her right hand to catch her. Moments later, she began to squeeze her shrunken enemy, delighting in hearing her screams of agony. "So, I take it you ran out of tricks to get you out of this, Princess?"

To answer that, the Wasp quickly grew back into human size to get out of Songbird's hand, and once free, gave her a double legged mule kick, hitting her in the chest and, remembering her prior training under Captain America, used her as a boost to flip backward and land on her feet, thought have a little bit of trouble getting her balance first. Once she got herself stable, Wasp soon got into a fighting stance and looked down at the fallen Songbird. "Oh, I still got a few."

After being humiliated again, a now furious Songbird popped back up, ran to Wasp and threw a right jab, to which Wasp responded by using her right arm to block the punch and push her attacker's fist outward so she and throw and land a left uppercut into Songbird's jaw. Now in control, Wasp later connected with right hook, then threw a left legged front kick in hopes of taking out the Thunderbolt's belt buckle.

However, Songbird proved her skill in hand-to-hand combat by throwing both arms down in an 'X' fashion to block the kick, then spotted Wasp going for a left hook and instinctively help up her left arm to block the blow and capitalized with a right hook, nailing Wasp in the face and sending him tumbling to a nearby tree on the left side. "Nice try, rich girl," said a confident Songbird as she walked towards the dazed Avenger.

After taking a moment to shake off the effects of the last punch, Wasp looked over her shoulder to see Songbird coming her way, and threw a right legged back kick, to which the pink haired Thunderbolt stopped by catching her foot. But even with her foot caught, Wasp managed to fight back by using her left leg to jump up then throw a round kick, nailing Songbird in the side of her head and sending her to ground senseless. While in the air, Wasp stopped herself from falling by shrinking down once again and used her wings to keep herself from hit the ground. "Thanks, it's what to expect when you've been trained by one of the greatest soldiers the world has ever known."

While on the ground, Songbird quickly recovered and with an anger filled grunt, she concentrated and channeled pink energy into her right arm and with her hand looking like that of a spear-head. And with her grunt turning into a scream, she then made her move by thrusting upward at the Wasp, only to miss the tiny Avenger when she dashed to the right side. But even after missing, Songbird refused to let this stop her and screamed once more, commanding the pink energy to move up from her arm all the way to her back, where they formed into two energy based wings. The Thunderbolt then jumped up and flapped them to get her airborne, where she looked down at the stunned Wasp. "Did he prepare you for something like this, Tinkerbell?"

The wide eyed Wasp could only give this nervous answer. "No...can't say that he did."

With a smile on her face upon seeing how unsure and fearful Wasp now was, Songbird screamed once more and shot a pink laser blast from out of her neck collar of her harness.

As for the Wasp, she flew off to avoid the blast hitting her, and as she looked over her shoulder, she saw the screaming Sonbird flying after her, forcing the Avenger to lead her on a chase across the Amazon.

Back in the Garden, the audience all cheered for the action, and while the Thunderbolts all yelled and barked orders at Songbird to try harder, the Avengers clapped and voiced their support for the Wasp. However, one Avenger who appeared to be not showing any support was that of Yellowjacket, who just watched the fight with his arms crossed and with a stone cold expression. Moments later, however, he spotted something through the corner of his right eye something strange.

It was on the silver metal props on the stage, where normally it would show one's reflection to whoever would look at it up close. But for Yellowjacket, what he saw was not his reflection, but that of the astral image of Henry 'Hank' Pym, dressed in a white coat with casual clothing underneath, the peace-loving scientist in which Yellowjacket used to be and more importantly, hated. "As I predicted," said Hank with a small smile. "You were wrong about Jan being useless! Further proving how much of a fool you were on letting her go!"

Yellowjacket only responded to Hank with a smug scoff. "This coming from a guy who never made a move on her to begin with?" With that said, Yellowjacket turned his attention back up to the screen and the match. "Besides, fight's not over yet, and so far, she's just getting lucky. I'd like to see how she does when things REALLY heat up." Upon saying that, Yellowjacket unknowingly said it loud enough for one of his teammates to hear him.

That teammate was Iron Man, who looks at Yellowjacket with a confused and worried expression behind his faceplate. "Who are you talking to, Yellowjacket?"

A shocked Yellowjacket turned to Iron Man upon hearing him, and briefly turned back to look at the astral Hank Pym, only to see his own reflection instead, leaving him let out a annoyed grunt. "No one," he replied, then looked back up to the screen. "I just talk to myself whenever I see action, and I'd like to see just how Jan is going to pull this off without me backing her up."

Needless to say, this left Iron Man quite angry with how Yellowjacket was talking about Wasp, but tried to compose himself for the sake of the team. "Trust me, she just my surprise you."

Another hero seeing Yellowjacket's odd behavior was Spidey, who looked completely worried. _"Man, why is it that I'm getting creepy vibes from Pym?"_ thought the Web-Head. _"And I mean, Green Goblin level vibes."_

Back in Brazil, both Wasp and Songbird were now engaged in an aerial battle as they soared over the Amazon river, shooting their respected energy blasts at one another. During the battle, and conveniently flying right above Wasp, the winged Songbird decides to try a different approach by ceasing to fire her blasts, then formed an energy tentacle with a blade at the end, and commanded it to strike at the small Avenger.

Fortunately for Wasp, she flew upward, causing the tentacle to hit the water instead, then flew over and arrived right above Songbird, where she noticed an unprotected spot on her lower back and right below her wing constructs. As such, she fired a sting blast at that spot, which caused the pink haired Thunderbolt to yell in pain and fall down to the river below.

However, before she could hit the water, Songbird saved herself by screamed and created a large pink bubble around herself while splashed into the water, and miraculously, land near the bank. From there, she stopped screaming and thus made the bubble disappeared and placed her feet on the bank, where she then looked up and sat the Wasp heading towards her. And it was here that Songbird screamed one more, causing a smaller bubble construct to split open and allow the Wasp to fly inside, then sealed itself behind her. With the Avenger now at her mercy, Songbird mentally command it slam itself into the ground, with the intention of knocking Wasp loopy. With that confidence, Songbird stopped screaming and caused the bubble to disappear, but to her surprise and dismay, the Wasp is nowhere to be found! "What?! Where the hell did she go?!"

As Songbird frantically looked around for her small opponent, the Wasp was revealed to have shrunken down to microscopic size, far too small for anyone to see. And with the Thunderbolt preoccupied in trying to find her, Wasp flew towards Songbird, and along the way, grew back to insect size and fired a sting blast into her eyes, blinding her. But Wasp did not stop there, in that she performed a somersault, and arrived in front of Songbird's belt buckle, and without wasting a single second, the size alerting heroine fired another blast and successfully destroyed the buckle, which caused yellow energy to surround the Thunderbolt and freeze her in place.

Once Wasp returned to human size, the Ref Bot floated down beside her and popped open its screen with the announcer's face shown. "Ladies and gentlemen of beautiful Brazil,, as well as the entire world, I give you your winner...The Wasp!"

While Wasp put on a smile for the people she could hearing cheering from the Ref Bot's screen, she still felt that this victory was that of a hallow won, and she briefly turned and looked at the frozen Songbird. _"Thanks for being my make-shift punching bag to help me deal with losing Hank, Pinky,"_ she thought, then turned her attention back to the Ref Bot's screen, namely the Thunderbolts in their corner. _"Here's hoping that whoever I fight next, they'll be allot easier to take down than you."_

**WINNER: THE WASP**


	13. Chapter 13

**32ND FINALS: YELLOWJACKET VS. ATLAS**

The now human sized Wasp arrived back at the Garden, where much like her teammates before her, is greeted by happy, supportive cheers from the Avengers fans, and as she made her way back to her corner, is soon greeted by her teammates. The first to greet her was that of her old friend, Ms. Marvel, who approached her with a proud smile. "Great work, Jan."

"Thanks," Wasp replied, smiling just a little and briefly turned to Cap. "But I had a little help in that department."

A proud Cap responded to Wasp, one of his hardest working students in self-defense to date, with a small nod. "I'm just glad that you remembered your training well, soldier. The fact that you're still in one piece tells me that I've done my job."

Thor soon stepped forward to congratulate his shrinking teammate. "And through the Captain's training, you have further reminded us not to incur your wrath, friend Janet."

Next in phrasing Wasp efforts was that of Spidey, who grinned behind his mask. "I can vouch for that, especially after how she handled Black Panther's assassins a couple of days ago."

Wasp turned to the Wall-Crawler and gave him a sly smirk. "Good memory, bug boy."

The only Avenger not impressed, or even happy, by Wasp's victory was that of Yellowjacket, who stood there with his arms crossed. "Wow, I had no idea that pure luck was considered a fighting skill."

Naturally, the Avengers did not take kindly to Yellowjacket's insult, especially Ms. Marvel, who angrily stepped forward to confront him. "What the hell, Hank?" she shouted. "How dare you say that, you condescending-"

Before things gout out of hand, the Wasp quickly stepped in front of her best friend before she could literally punch him off the stage. "Carol no! It's okay," she told her, than gave Yellowjacket one last glare. "He's not worth it. Or at least...not anymore."

Yellowjacket reacted to Wasp's comments with a sneer. "Whatever."

Meanwhile, the announcer kept the crowd riled up by presenting the next match-up. "And now, just as we've seen skill from one size changer, let's see what two can give us! As we move on to the Avengers' stinging Yellowjacket taking on the Thunderbolts' powerhouse, Atlas!"

Upon hearing this announcement, a chuckling Atlas began popping his knuckles as he walked over to the teleportation pad. _"Oh yeah, payback time!"_ he thought, still sore on how Yellowjacket defeated him back at the Wakandan Embassy.

Yellowjacket also made his way to the center of the stage, and upon arriving at the teleportation pad, he looked forward to see Atlas, who by now was giving him a death glare. "So, I got pitted against you, huh?" said Yellowjacket in a sarcastic tone. "Well, this shouldn't take long."

With both combatants now on the pads, all that was left for the enthusiastic announcer was to say this to the eager crowd. "All right, let's get this show on the road!" At that moment, both Yellowjacket and Atlas are soon transported out of the arena and over to their unknown destination.

Back in the Avengers corner, Wasp only hung her head in disappointment, knowing that the man that was just transported was no longer the Hank Pym she knew and loved, and that the egotistical, borderline sadist Yellowjacket had taken his place.

An angered Ms. Marvel turned away from the teleportation pads and looked at the saddened Wasp, causing her great concerned. "Jan, what happened between you two?"

"It's not important," Wasp answered back, trying fight back tears in order to look strong for her teammates. "Right now, let's just hope Hank gets through his match."

Iron Man, who was just as worried about Wasp after her falling out with Yellowjacket, reluctantly nodded. "Agreed," said the Shell-Head, then pounded his armored hands together. "But once this is over, I'm gonna have a nice little chat with Yellowjacket!"

At one point, Cap soon stepped in as if to remind Iron Man to keep a clear head. "We all will, Tony, but in the form of a court-marshal that can wait until later. For now, let's just focus on winning this tournament.

Spidey looked on at his teammate's conversation with an uneasy expression. _"Man, it looks like Earth's Mightiest Heroes are now transforming into the most dysfunctional family of superhero teams,"_ thought the Web-Head. _"And it couldn't come at a worse time."_

Meanwhile, the tournament soon returns to Japan, but this time, around Mt. Fuji. Moments later, both Yellowjacket and Atlas finally arrived, and the Ref Bot was waiting for them, as well as four giant holoscreens floating around the top of the mountain itself, all so the Japanese spectators, be it from Tokyo, or any other nearby area, could watch the action. A sight in which had Atlas grinning. "Just perfect," said the Thunderbolt, looking up at one of the screens, then turned his attention over to Yellowjacket. "Now all of Japan can see me pound your face in."

"Funny," said the smug and smirking Yellowjacket. "I was just about to say the same thing."

As the matches before, the announcer's face appeared on the screen of the Ref Bot as it hovered in between Yellowjacket and Atlas. "All right, gentlemen, I'm sure you'll both be extra careful, given your abilities?" he asked, receiving irritated nods from both combatants. "In that case..." the Ref-Bot then hovered up into the air. "BEGIN!"

Atlas wasted no time in making the first move by growing to giant size and attempting to grab and pick up the still human sized Yellowjacket.

Yellowjacket naturally saw this coming and thus flipped backward to avoid the now massive Atlas' hand, which upon hitting the ground, made a small tremor. Afterwards, the Avenger went on the offensive and began growing to giant size, and in the process, gave Atlas a hard right uppercut to his jaw, causing him to fall to the ground, and upon hitting the ground, create an earthquake. With Atlas now down, Yellowjacket spotted his enemy's belt buckle, and thus decided to end this quickly by taking his tightly clinched right fist and going to punch it.

However, Atlas spotted this attack coming and thus used his right hand to catch Yellowjacket's fist. The Thunderbolt then retaliated by pulling Yellowjacket in and deliver a hard left hook, nailing Yellowjacket in the jaw and forcing him to step backward. Now with the upperhand, Atlas stood up and continued his assault on his giant opponent by throwing a right cross.

Though dazed at first, Yellowjacket recovered fast enough to see Atlas throwing his punch and saved himself by holding up his right arm, blocking the blow. He then followed it up with a left jab to the Thunderbolt's face, stunning him long enough to give the size altering scientist the opportunity needed to throw a right hook.

Unfortunately, Altas, being the seasoned street fighter in his own right, anticipated this used his right arm to block the Avengers punch, then responded with a left middle punch into Yellowjacket's abdomen. After knocking the air out of his sworn enemy, as well as forcing him to bend over, Atlas used both of his hands to grab the winded hero by the back of his head, then forced him to walk towards Mt. Fuji and rammed his face into the mountain itself, with the impact causing an avalanche. Atlas then picked Yellowjacket's head out of the mountain, with the Avenger's face still having some debris left on it, and was just about to slam his face into the famed mountain once again.

Fortunately for Yellowjacket though, he is able to save himself by throwing a right elbow strike into Atlas abdomen, forcing the Thunderbolt to release him. Now free, Yellowjacket turned and responded with a left uppercut, nailing Atlas in the chin and forcing him to stagger backward into a nearby forest.

After shaking off the effects of the punch, Atlas spotted Yellowjacket coming towards him, and thus grabbed a nearby tree, pulled it out of the ground and swung it like a baseball bat, with the intent of nailing Yellowjacket in the head.

However, Yellowjacket spotted this early on and soon jumped up in giant size, a while in mid-air, instinctively shrunk down to human size, and landed on onto the tree. Afterwards, he proceeded to ran up the tree and headed towards Atlas' face.

Atlas saw this attack coming, thus decided to be a little creative himself, in that he lets go of the tree, and following Yellowjacket's idea, jump up and shrunk down to him size as well, only he soon free-fell towards the aggressive Avenger himself.

Wanting to beat the Thunderbolt to punch, literally and figuratively, Yellowjacket flew up and tackled Atlas, with both men wrestling one another as they fall to the ground below. Even as he tried to regain control, Yellowjacket couldn't help but give his opponent a smirk. "Gotta admit pal, I'm a little surprised you decided to go the shrinking route. I'd figure you'd be the type of brainless dolt whose too dumb to know that size doesn't matter, and would stay as a giant to win the fight."

Atlas returned Yellowjacket's smirk with one of his own, all while having his right fist not closed completely, as if he was holding something inside it. "Well, what can I say?" said the Thunderbolt. "I guess I'm just full of surprises. See what you think of this one!" At that moment, Atlas opened his right hand in front of Yellowjacket's face, which in turn, caused a flash of light to occur, which blinds the Avenger and causing him to inadvertently let go of Atlas.

Moments later, Atlas regrew back into a giant size, then grabbed hold of Yellowjacket, with his now massive right hand, raised it over his hand and throw it downward in a hammer blow motion, where he not only hits Yellowjacket, but also slams him into the ground. As he pulled his hand back, the Thunderbolt found Yellowjacket relatively unharmed due to inner protective armor in his costume, but still disoriented. All in which left Atlas the opportunity to take his right index finger and press down on the Avenger's belt-buckle, causing the yellow energy to consume the fallen hero and freeze him in place, thus ending the match.

Needless to say, this was a shock to the spectators watching back in the Garden, but none more so than Wasp, whose eyes grew wide open with fright at the sight of Yellowjacket defeated. "HANK!" she yelled in despair, for despite how their relationship ended, she still cared for his safety.

Back in Japan, as Yellowjacket laid on the ground frozen and helpless, Atlas shrunk back down to human size, grinning from ear to ear, marveling at his own 'handy work.' It wasn't long before the Ref-Bot floated next to the Thunderbolt, with the announcer's face on the screen. "Ladies and gentlemen, here is your winner...Atlas!"

Atlas paid no attention to the announcer's voice, as well as the cheers from the Thunderbolts fans, being from the Ref Bot or the holoscreens. For he was far too busy enjoying the sight of Yellowjacket being utterly helpless, as well as the sweet taste of revenge from their last fight regarding the attempt on the Black Panther's life. "Whose the dolt now, Pym?"

**WINNER: ATLAS**


	14. Chapter 14

**STEPPING INTO THE MADNESS**

The victorious Atlas returned to the Garden with the crowd greeting him with a mixture of cheers and boos as he walked back to his fellow Thunderbolts in their corner.

As for the Avengers themselves, they all stood worried and disappointed over the loss of another one of their teammates, Yellowjacket. Though true, the new aggressive personality of attitude of the man many of the Avengers once knew as Hank Pym rubbed them off the wrong way, some of them sere still worried about his well being, even his former partner the Wasp, who despite severing ties with him, still had some love for him and worried what the mind controlled S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were doing to him now that he was their prisoner.

Spidey noticed the Wasp's concern was that of Spidey, who decided to comfort her the way she and his fellow Avengers did for him when he found out that Gwen was now, and still was, in trouble. "Hey, don't worry, Wasp, we'll get Dr. Pym out of there."

Not all of the Avengers were as enthusiastic on saving Yellowjacket as the Web-Head. Namely Hawkeye, who responded the Wall-Crawler's words with a cynical expression, while at the same time, crossing his arms. "I think 'we' is a strong word, kid."

Cap, on the other hand, stepped in and confronted Hawkeye after hearing this remark. "I'm not to fond of him either, Clint, but he's still a human being whose in danger. As far as his membership is concerned, he'll still have his court martial, but not if he's dead!"

Hawkeye let out a sigh of frustration as he reluctantly agreed with Cap. "Okay fine, but still, if Pym is being held by Osborn, how can we be sure that he's alive?"

The archer's blunt left his fellow Avengers unsettled, especially his old partner, Natasha, for while she did understand his point, she knew that his cynicism would not only lower the morale of the team, but also upset the Wasp even further, all in which led the spy to walk in and try to calm Hawkeye down.

However, it was Iron Man who answered Hawkey's question while looking at some of the S.H.I.E.L.D. files he managed to collect via the eye lenses in his helmet. "He is," said the armored Avenger, getting everyone's attention. "From what I'm seeing in the S.H.I.E.L.D. files I managed to gather, it turns out that the contestants who lose their matches, even the Thunderbolts, are placed in holding cells."

Back in the S.H.I.E.L.D. helocarrior, Iron Man's statement is confirmed, for in the holding area of the ship, the Thunderbolts such as Magus, Silver Samurai, Batroc, Two-Gun Kid and Songbird were all in cells with invisible, electrified force fields, as punishment for losing their matches. Among those imprisoned was that of Ant-Man, sitting in shame in his cell bed, and Yellowjacket, and due to his allegiance to the Avengers, as well as his size-altering abilities, he is given the 'special treatment' by being strapped to a metal gurney in his cell.

As one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents passed by, the imprisoned Magus, who by now removed his mask to reveal the ace of Quentin Beck, spoke up. "Hey, can't we at least give us something different to wear? I'm starting to bake in this costume Osborn gave me!"

An annoyed Songbird, whose cell is right next to Quentin's, grew tired of Quentin's constant whining. "I don't think these guys are going ton listen to you, Beck. Especially after how you lost to a teenager."

Needless to say, this retort did not sit well with Quentin's whose pride was still wounded from getting best by Spidey once again. "Really?" he replied defiantly. "This coming from the one who lost to a pixie?"

Meanwhile, back in the Garden, the Avengers all stood in shock and awe upon hearing Iron Man tell them that Osborn was holding his own teammates, as well as their fellow Avengers. And though he felt just as uncomfortable about this as everyone, Spidey still chose to put on a positive demeanor for the sake of his team. "But hey, if Yellowjacket's really alive, that means we can still save him!"

At this point, the Hero for Hire, Luke Cage stepped forward and joining in boosting the team's spirits. "Yeah, well, we can only do that by pounding fools brains in, not moping."

After watching Atlas return to his corner, the announcer once again took center stage to continue with the tournament's proceedings. "Ladies and gentlemen," he said loudly, successfully catching everyone's attention, being the crowd or both superhero teams. "Let us proceed with out next hard hitting match-up! For we having the Avengers' Hero for Hire, Luke Cage, taking on the Thunderbolts' Molten Man!"

Upon hearing his name being called out, Luke Cage took a moment to pop the cricks out of his neck, as well as those in his knuckles. "Show time."

With that said, Fist nodded and smile at his partner. "Good luck, Luke."

The net to speak to to the Power Man was Spidey, who looked straight ahead to see Molten Man, someone he fought in the past but knew he was just misguided and probably fighting with the Thunderbolts against his will. "And Luke, try go easy on him!"

Luke couldn't help but be a little confused by Spidey's request. True, he knew that the young Web-Head often referred to himself as the 'Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man', but what did it have to do with watching out for villains. Nevertheless, Luke had no time to question this, and thus gave the Web-Slinger this quick reply. "Yeah, I'll try, little dude. That's the only thing I can promise." With that said, he walked over to the teleportation pad to begin his match.

Meanwhile, back in the skybox, another person just as shocked by Molten Man was that of Gwen Stacy, who looked at the literally fiery young man with confusion. _"Wait...isn't that the Mark guy that MJ told me about it? How did he get mixed up in this?"_

Back on the stage, just as the Molten Man was about to stand on top of the teleporation pad, he soon received a message in his specially made com-link earpiece in his right ear by none other than the voice of Norman Osborn, who contacted him via the intercom system in his Iron Patriot armor. _**"Remember Allen,"**_ said Osborn in a stern tone. _**"You've already failed me once. Don't make it a habit."**_

Molten Man felt sick everytime he heard the voice of the man who manipulated him into becoming the monster that he was today. A monster that not even his own family, especially his sister, could face. But still, with clinched fist, he turned to his armored superior and gave him a brief nod of acknowledgement, then turn forward and stepped on top of the pad.

At that moment, the teleportation pads activated and both Luke and Molten Man are sent to an unknown spot in the world to have them match.

Meanwhile, inside an abandoned police station now turned secret lab, the shady scientist, Miles Warren, sighed in disappointment when he saw his lab mouse died of another failed test of a Super Solider serum and noting it's failure in his ipad. Suddenly, through the corner of his eye, he saw Luke and Molten Man being transported on his digital screen TV. As such, he pressed an icon on his ipad to save his findings, then turned and sat on his chair to watch the match. "So, that molten disappoint is up next, eh?" he said crossing his arms. "Well, let's see if he's learned from his last mistake."

Elsewhere in the United States, the green skinned powerhouse himself, the Hulk, is seen leaping his way through the Arkansas Ozarks on his way to New York. But little did the Green Goliath know, however, he was about to engage in yet another life or death battle of his own, namely that while in mid-air, the Hulk is hit by an tree that was ripped from the grown and thrown. Needless to say, the Hulk himself falls and crashes into the ground, making a large earthquake upon impact. As the dazed Jade Giant shook his head, he heard and felt loud, powerful footsteps coming his way, and as he sat up, he looked straight ahead to see his attacker.

Sure enough, it was that of the brown skinned, collar wearing, cone-headed giant monster that at one point was known as Phillip Sterns, but was now known by the Hulk, as well as the rest of the world, as Madman! "Hey there, Jolly Green!" said Madman with a sick, evil grin. "It's been a long time."


	15. Chapter 15

**32ND FINALS: LUKE CAGE VS. MOLTEN MAN**

The place of combat this time was that of the city of Pamplona, the capital city of Navarre, Spain, where moments later, both Luke Cage and Molten Man appear in front of Town Hall and are soon greeted by cheering Spanish fans behind the glowing laser ropes. Also in the area was that of a large crate, large enough to hold a battleship. A sight in which shocked and confused both Luke and Molten Man, as they both wondered what could be inside. As the energized crowd continued to cheer, the Ref Bot floated in, and right on cue, it's screen popped up and showed the announcer's face. "Gentlemen, welcome to Spain!"

Luke looked around the city with just his eyes, and appeared to be pleased with seeing the city first hand. "Pretty nice."

Molten Man, on the other hand, still kept his narrowed eyes at the Hero for Hire, and thus began popping his knuckles. "Enjoy it while you can," he growled. "Because you're gonna be in a coma when I'm done with you!"

Luke, on the other hand, was not the least bit intimidated by Molten Man's threat, nor was he impressed. "Kid, if I had a dollar for every time I've heard every villain punk tell me that, I'd be rich enough to own my own island. And aside from being some kind of lava man, you're no different."

This retort only made the Molten Man smirk a little. "Really? You wanna bet?"

At that moment, the Ref Bot floated in between the two heroes in order to keep them from fighting before the match even started. "Now now, gentlemen, let's not get ahead of ourselves here."

No truer words were said for Molten Man, for he was still in Norman Osborn's employ, and while he didn't show it, he was still worried about what Norman would do should he 'step out of line,' and thus stopped himself before doing anything rash. "Fine, whatever," uttered Molten Man as he crossed his arms in annoyance and waited for the announcer to hurry up and start the match.

Meanwhile, back in New York, and inside a local coffee shop, Flash Thompson, along with his girlfriend Sha Shan, as well as the rest of the 'cool kids' in Midtown High are all hanging out and watching the tournament on the coffee shop's newly installed big screen TV. And while most of Flash's entourage looked on with excitement, it is the beautiful blonde haired girl Sally Avril who looked completely worried once she saw Molten Man's image, and thus turned to the rest of her friends. "You guys," she whispered in urgency. "There is no way we can let Liz see this!"

Unfortunately, just as Sally said this and all the kids agreed with her, the stunning Liz Allen herself, who by this time was seen carrying a cup of cappuccino she order, looked confused as to what she heard Sally whispered to everyone. "Can't let me see what?" she asked Sally and the others, startling them, but then looked up at the TV to see for herself and her eyes grew huge with shock when she saw the Molten Man...who at one time she knew as her brother. "MARK?!"

Meanwhile, back in the office of Heroes for Hire, Jenny Royce is seen comforting the sobbing Cassie Lang after she witnessed her father, Ant-Man, getting beaten by the Scarlet Spider. Through the corner of her eye, she glanced over at the TV, and saw Luke Cage on the screen. _"Boss,"_ she thought to herself, looking worried. _"Please be careful."_

Back in Spain, Molten Man, as well as the rest of the cheering Spanish fans, is eager to get the match started. "All right," he said pounding his fiery fist together. "Let's hurry up and get this party started!"

The announcer, however, had the Ref Bot turned to the anxious Molten Man so he could address him. "Now, now, easy there, sport!" he told the young Thunderbolt, earning him an angry glare. "We will in no time, but first, by order of Mr. Osborn himself, we gotta go through a small...stipulation."

Needless to say, this answer left both combatants confused, and it's Luke who is the most vocal about it. "What stipulation?"

"Well, one based on the old tradition known as the 'Running of the Bulls,'" the announcer replied. "Now, I assume that like the fine people here, you two are familiar with said tradition running away from a stampede of running bulls?"

The one to answer this question is the still dumbfounded Molten Man. "Yeah, so?"

The Ref Bot floated over to the stop of the crate. "So, in honor of Pamplona and its people we and it's people, we decided to have the same thing. Only this time..." The Ref Bot had a flashing light on it's base, which turned, opened the crate and revealed what was inside. And what Luke, Molten Man, and the people in the audience saw caused them all to gasp in disbelief.

Molten Man stood motionless and speechless for a few seconds until he muttered. "Oh..."

Seconds later, an equally shocked Luke finished his opponent's surprised answer. "...Sweet Christmas!"

What was inside the crate was that of what looked like a large number of mechanical bulls, all with glowing red eyes and looking like mini-tanks. And once they had the crowd's attention, the announcer went on to explain what they were exactly. "Except for this match, we have mechanical bulls, courtesty of the lab boys from S.H.I.E.L.D.! And here to help give our super powered friends a run for their money for this match up!"

At this point, a skeptic looking Luke raised only one index finger to ask this. "Excuse me, my man, but isn't the idea of these matches is to have two people, you know, fight each other?"

"Oh yes, but this will definitely help spice things up!" The Ref Bot's lights flashed again, and this time, caused strange glowing arrows to appear and create route. "And speaking of fighting, follow these arrows to the platform to have your match! So, without further delay, on your mark." As the Ref Bot flashed it's lights again, it caused the mechanical bulls to stand erect. "...get set..." their eyes all glow bright red, and set their sights on their intended targets: Luke and Molten Man. And, to finally get things started, the Ref Bot floated up into the air, and the announcer shouted this in Spanish. "GO!" With that very word be their activation code, the bulls all ran towards Luke and Molten Man at full speed.

Something in which made Luke groaned. "The hell did I sign up for?" he said to himself, then he, along with Molten Man, turned and ran for their lives, following the glowing arrows with the bulls not far behind.

Back in the coffee shop in New York, Liz now has her hands over her mouth in fear for her brother's safety, with her friends trying to provide her with comfort and support. Moments later, another student of Midtown High was that of the lovely, red-head, Mary-Jane Watson, who walked into the shop but looked a little baffled when she saw the gathering of people around the big screen TV. She later approached the clerk to order a latte. "Uh yeah, I'll have a..."In the middle of ordering, she soon caught a glimpse of the Molten Man running, and like Liz, couldn't believe what she just saw. "MARK?!"

Back in Spain, Luke and Molten Mark continued to run for their lives as they followed the arrows to their objective, with the bulls quickly gaining up on them. For Molten Man, he would normally toss lava at the bulls to test out the 'fire-proof' theory, but being as how he knew that Osborn was behind this, he did not want to take that chance. In the midst of their running, the two super-powered men looked straight ahead and see that arrows all lead to that of a small floating platform with two sets of stairs at the bottom. Not wanting to waste another second, Luke and Molten Man high-tail it, each stepping on the first step on each of the stairways, and instead of walking up, they use the steps as a boost to jump up high and both land on the floating platform. As if it was activated by feeling the weight of both men, the platform then floated up into the air and allowed the robot bulls to destroy the stairway in their stampede, running right underneath the floating platform like that of water under a bridge.

Both Luke and Molten Man were exhausted from the running, and as they slowly sat up, the Ref Bot hovered over to them, the announcer's face ever present. "Wow, you made it in record time, gentlemen!" he said with enthusiasm. "But sadly, you can't rest yet! After all, you still have...!"

Neither Molten Man or Luke were clearly in no mood for the announcer's pleasantries after such a long run, and as such, they both got up and leaned into the Ref Bot's screen as they irritably said this in unison. "Just start the damn match!"

Even though he was miles away in New York, the announcer was still nevertheless intimidated by the two men 'getting in his face' via the Ref Bot. "Message received," he replied nervously, then mentally commanded the Ref Bot to fly up high once again and hover above the two fighters. "BEGIN!"

Molten Man wasted no time in getting the real fight underway as he surprised Luke with a stiff left hook to his jaw.

While this sucker punch did stun him for a bit, Luke manage to quickly shake off the effects, and thanks to a little bit of training he did with his partner Iron Fist, he felt the platform shake dude to the footsteps coming from Molten Man moving closer to him, and was secretly grateful that he actually listened to his old friend in this regard. As such, Luke merely acted like he was still dazed from the last punch in order to make the Molten Man think he had the upper hand, that is until he felt his young opponent's footsteps stop on the left side, which prompted Luke to look through the corner of his left eye to see Molten Man throwing a right hook, prompting the 'Power Man' to use his right hand to catch the young Thunderbolt's fiery fist and stop the attack.

Though his skin was tough enough to withstand the Molten Man's touch, Luke could still feel his hand burning, and thus made his move by throwing a left uppercut, one that was strong enough to knock his young opponent off of his feet, and give him the time to shake his now smoking hand in a attempt to relieve the burning.

Back in the Garden, the Avengers are watching Luke gain the upper hand in the match and are both relieved as well as impressed. Especially Wolverine, who was amazed that a man of Luke's size could move so quickly. "Hmmmm, Cage is faster than he looks," said the X-Man, still watching the match intently.

This caused a smiling Iron Fist to speak on his partner's behalf. "Yes, Luke is full of surprises," said Fist in a light-hearted tone, but then turned serious as he continued to watch his friend block and three punch combination from Molten Man. "But, he's also been known to lose his temper at times, so I'm hoping he'll keep it in check to win this fight."

Another Avenger worried about these proceedings was that of Spidey, who was far more worried about the safety of Molten Man, Liz's brother, if anything else. _"No argument here,"_ thought the Web-Head, for while he was rooting for Luke, he also hoped that he didn't do so by seriously injuring fiery, as well as misguided young man.

Back in the Spain, both Luke and Molten Man are now trading blows on the hovering platform above the stampede of mechanical bulls. After leaning backward to avoid a right uppercut form the young Thunderbolt, Luke went for a left jab, only to have it blocked. Fortunately though, Luke was still fast enough to land a fast right hook to Molten Man's jaw, causing him to stagger to the edge of the platform, and in danger of falling into the stampede and getting trampled to death. Knowing that killing his opponent was not allowed, as well as not wanting to kill the young man at all, Luke reached his right hand out to try and pull him to safety.

However, Molten Man saw this act of kindness as another attack, and quickly passed underneath Luke's extending, which caused the Hero for Hire to nearly go over the edge of the platform and into the stampeding mechanical bulls below.

As Luke struggled to find his balance, he managed to turn around and see Molten making a lava-ball with his hands and throw it at him. Acting fast, Luke held his arms in an 'X' fashion and miraculously, he blocked the ball. Even in stopping the ball, Luke still felt the burning sensation of the lava on his arms, and thus shook it off before managed to burn into the skin. Afterwards, Luke turned his attention to Molten Man, and seeing that he is a young man in over his head, he felt that he had to at least try to talk some since into him. "Look kid, I don't know what Osborn promised you, but believe me when I say, it isn't worth it! Because I've actually been down that road before. Hell, that's the reason I got my powers, because I trusted the wrong guy. Point is, you can still do the right thing and forfeit this match!"

Deep in his heart, Molten Man wanted to believe him. After all the mistakes he's made, from his gambling, to becoming what he is now, and in the process, lost the love and trust of his friends and family, nothing would've made him happier than to leave Osborn and be awarded one final chance of redemption. Something that he is further reminded of when he looks into the crowd and saw two children, with one being an eight year old boy, and other being a five year old girl. The sight of those children together reminded him of the times he spent with his sister, Liz, and was also sadly reminded of Norman telling him that something 'unfortunate' would happen to her should he lose his match. All in which caused Molten Man to let out a sad sigh as he turned back to Luke. "Sorry, wish it was that simple." He told the part-time Avenger, then ran over and threw a right hook at him.

Luke saw this coming, however, and thus used his left hand to catch the punch. The Hero for Hire later spotted Molten Man throwing a left hook, and thus used his right hand to catch that fist as well, and thus he and his teenage opponent being wrestling for position. "Nobody said it was simple, kid," Luke said looking right dead in Molten Men's eyes. "But that don't mean you can't have help. I noticed you getting a look at those two kids down there. They your brother and sister?"

"No!" Molten Man snapped back. "They...they just reminded me of someone..."

"Someone that's close to you," Luke deduced then went further. "Someone that's a girl? And if that's the case, is Osborn holding her hostage?"

"Shut up!" yelled the angry Molten Man, then leaned back and gave Luke a hard head-butt, which dazed the Power Man long enough to release the Thunderbolt's hands. He then used both arms to wrap around Luke's waist, which began to burn the Hero for Hire's shirt, but not so much his upperbody. Nonetheless, Molten Man later made his move by performing a belly to belly suplex, throwing Luke over his head.

Luke landed hard on the edge of the platform, and was inches away from being thrown off the platform, and into the stampede below. As he laid there on his Luke looked up and saw Molten Man standing over him, looking angry in order to mask his sadness. Finally, Molten Man went to finish the match by winding the right fist back and punched downward, with the intent of destroying Luke's belt buckle.

However, Luke avoided it by rolling to the left side, causing the young Thunderbolt to punch his fist through the platform instead and getting himself stuck. Once he was on his stomach, Luke popped back up on his feet then ran up behind Molten Man and puts the young man in a sleeper hold. "Kid, if you doing this because someone you know is in danger, I can help you!" he whispered into the struggling Molten Man's ear. "Stark is on the Osborn game, and we got friends on the outside who can help. Now what's the girl's name and where is she?"

Molten Man knew that giving Luke any information would be suicide, but there was something in Luke's voice that made him want to believe him, and surprisingly, but he knew what was at risk. However, he decided to humor Luke and tell him who he was fighting for. "Liz...Liz Allen. My sister," he whispered back in Luke's ear. "And for all I know she could be hanging out at...a coffee shop near Queens. I don't know the name, but she said it's where all the kids hang out...and Osborn is having S.H.I.E.L.D agents watching her like a hawk. So while I appreciate the effort, I still don't see how you can help!" With that reply, the Molten Man gave Luke a right elbow strike to his abdomen, forcing him to let go. Once free, Molten Man turned to face the winded Luke and clinched his fists. "So yeah, I've got way too much at stake to back out now! And for my sister, I'm playing for keeps. With his intent made clear, the Molten Man charged forward and went to give Luke a fierce right uppercut.

However, Luke leaned back to avoid the blow, then watched his young opponent throw a left hook, he held up his left arm to block the punch, then fought back by throwing a right jab to the Thunderbolt's face, then a left legged knee strike to his abdomen. Afterwards, Luke walked up behind Molten Man, then pulled and held the fiery teen's right arm between his legs, then hooked his left arm with Molten Man's free arm. Now with a tight grip on his bending opponent, Luke used his strength to lift Molten Man up and placed him over his right shoulder. Despite the face that his shirt was now burning off of his person, as well as feeling it in his steel skin, Luke nonetheless went through with his attack by falling forward and slamming the young man back first onto the platform. Luke later sat up and thus decided that this match had gone on long enough. As such, he used his left hand to pin Molten Man down, then then after turning his right hand into a fist, raised it up over his head and drove it downward, successfully hitting and shattering Molten Man's belt-buckle and encasing him in yellow energy.

As Luke got back on his feet, the Ref Bot floated over to the Hero for Hire and addressed the audience watching around the world. "Here is your winner...LUKE CAGE!"

Even though he won, Luke did not look to pleased. In fact, all he could do was look down at the frozen Molten Man with pity. _"Sorry kid, I still have a job to do by trying to win Osborn's sick game,"_ thought the Power Man. _"But that doesn't mean I won't help your sister."_

**WINNER: LUKE CAGE**


	16. Chapter 16

**PROMISES TO KEEP**

Inside his lab, Miles Warren just saw Molten Man's defeat on the digital screen and shook his head with both disdain and disappointment. "I should've known that Allen would be of little use," he said to himself, then looked at his ipad, used his index finger to move the screen up and showed the blue prints of what appeared to be a digitized female wearing a black jumpsuit with a picture of a small, spider-like nanite on the side of it. "Well, let's see if Agent Belova will fair any better when she has her match."

Back in the Garden, the returning Luke is greeted with applause from his match, but Luke himself appeared to be preoccupied in finding Iron Man so he can ask him for a favor. One in which could determine the fate of the Molten Man's sister, Liz Allen. Once he approached his fellow Avengers, he respectfully nodded to them as they gave her phrase for winning his match, as well as give his Iron Fist a 'fist-bump', but once he saw Iron Man himself, he soon approached the armored billionaire.

Something in which doesn't surprise Iron Man in the least, knowing that the 'Hero for Hire' would probably ask for a bonus after winning his match for the team. "Nice going out there, Cage," said the Shell-Head. "But if you're wanting to ask for a raise in pay..."

"Relax Stark, my fee is still the same," Luke interjected, but then looked at him with a slightly worried looked. "But I still need something from you."

This answer confused the rest of the Avengers, as well as Fist, but it caused Iron Man to raise an inquisitive eyebrow behind his face-plate. "Which is?"

Now seeing that he has Iron Man's attention, Luke goes on with his request. "There's a girl in danger and I need a few of your friends on the outside to help her. The girl is Molten guy's kid sister."

Suddenly, Spidey's eyes grew with with shock when he heard Luke mention the girl who was not only Molten Man's sibling...but was also his ex-girlfriend as well. "Liz? She's in trouble?!"

This response is more than enough to get Luke's attention, thus making turn to face the Web-Head. "You know her?"

"We...used to date," Spidey replied somewhat awkwardly, but shook his head to regain his focus in the situation. "But really?! She's in danger?"

Luke was a bit confused about Spidey's response at first, but quickly got back to the subject at hand. "Yeah, she is. During our match, that Molten kid told me that she was having one of her goons following her, and the she might be in a some coffee shop in Queens where all the kids hang out, but he didn't tell me the name."

Spidey, being one of those 'kids' knew about said shop, and more importantly, mentioned it's name loudly. "The Coffee Bean!"

Luke, upon hearing the Web-Head, turned to Iron Man with a look of urgence. "Stark...!"

"I'm on it," Iron Man replied quickly, then quickly puts the inner circuitry to contact his trusty A.I. "J.A.R.V.I.S, get me Fury, now!"

Meanwhile, outside of the Coffee Bean, a sobbing Liz Allen is seen running out of the shop, no doubt traumatized on see the molten creature that was her brother on television, and with Sally in pursuit of her.

However, unknown to both teens, they are both being watched by a black clad sniper that was stationed on n a nearby rooftop. He waited for Sally to finally stop Liz to talk to her, then took aim at the sobbing Liz's head. "Nothing personal, kid," said the sniper. "Strictly business."

Before the sniper could take the shot, he froze when he heard the clicking noises of hand guns being loaded and near his head. Hand guns which belonged to two beautiful but tough women. The woman on the left was that of an African American woman with an afro and wearing a red jumpsuit named Misty Knight, and the other on the right being a blonde hair Caucasian woman dressed in white named Sharon Carter, who just so happened to be the very few S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to escape being mind controlled.

Misty, with the barrel of her gun close to the sniper's temple, is the first to address the petrified assassin. "Don't even think about, baby!"

As for Sharon, she first looked at the sniper with anger and disgust on how he would be so willing to kill a teenager. "...'Nothing personal'," she quoted with disdain. "That's what all heartless cowards like you say to justify what you do." As much as she wanted to rid the world of one less scumbag, she knew that the bullets that were inside her gun were that of small tranquilizers, which she showed when she shot a small dart into the exposed sniper's neck, putting him to sleep. She then placed her index finger to her right ear to call the person she respected enough to be the one true director of S.H.I.E.L.D. "Commander Fury, we got the sniper. The girl's safe!"

Meanwhile, inside one of the many warehouses that served as a safehouse from any enemies that compromised S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury is seen in front of computer which was broadcasting Sharon's transmission. "Good to know, Carter," Nick replied in his usual calm but stone-faced demeanor. "Make sure she gets home safe, then get back here." With that reply, the former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. pressed a button on the dashboard to end his call to Sharon, then turned to the screen to address the image of Iron Man. "You hear that, Stark? And if so, don't say I never did anything for you." At one point, Nick looked over his shoulder, and gazed upon the pale May Parker, still comatose and resting on a specially made hospital bed. "Especially since I'm already using allot of Life Model Decoys to help Parker's aunt..."

_...a few hours before the tournament and in her hospital room in Manhattan General, a sleeping May was being tended to by a female nurse. Moments later, the nurse left her side to tend to other patients, and as she left the room, both Sharon and Quake, disguised as nurses, walked into the room. Afterwards, Sharon pulled out a small circular object, then gently set it down on the floor, pressed a button on it's top and stepped back from it. It didn't take long for the object to built up piece by piece and actually form into a wheeled gurney. With the first part of 'Operation: Rescue' out of the way, they then proceeded with phase two, in that they both both pressed buttons on their watches, which activated their holographic disguises, which were two of the hospitals male coroners._

_The disguised Quake then gently grabbed May, picked her up off the bed and placed her on the newly constructed gurney, then gently placed a blanket to disguise her as someone who passed away. Sharon then completed the allusion by pulling out another circular object from her pocket, then placed it on May's now empty bed and pressed the button. Seconds later, large number of tiny robots come crawling out of the device like water finally form into the Life Model Decoy of May Parker herself._

_With the switch now done, Quake and Sharon then proceeded to wheel the 'departed' May out of the hospital room and into the hallway and just entered the elevator as a new male doctor and nurse stepped in and walked over to the May decoy, thinking that she's the real deal..._

Back in the present, Nick crossed his arms as he continued his transmission to Iron Man. "And given the situation we're all in, I'm hoping that'll be your last favor."

Meanwhile, back in the Garden, Iron Man communicated with Nick via the intercom system in his helmet, and answered with a smile. "Doubtful Fury, but thanks. And I'll try and pay you back...hopefully. I'll talk to you later." With that said, Iron Man mentally ended the call and switched his focus to the announcer, who by this time had taken center stage in front of the cheering crowd.

"All right folks, who's ready for more excitement?!" asked the announcer, receiving a gleeful cheer in response. "All right then, let's move on to the next make, once in which instead of hand to hand, it must be fought with claw vs. blade! For we now have the clawed Avenger, as well as Wakandan King, the Black Panther, taking on the Thunderbolts' blade master, the Swordsman!"

The Panther, despite hearing his name called, did not seemed to pleased or excited, rather looked more focused.

This did not stop the smirking teammate Hawkeye to turn and tease the Wakandan King. "Nervous?"

The proud Wakandan King turned to answer his arrow wielding teammate, all the while having his mask hid an equally sly smirk. "Never." he told Hawkeye, then turned forward and looked at Swordsman who was still in the Thunderbolts corner, twirling his sword for the Thunderbolts fans, as well as causing his teammates to cautiously stand back, then placed the sword into the scabbard in his back as he made his way to the teleportation pad. Behavior in which caused the battle hardened Panther to say this about his soon to be opponent. "Skilled...but arrogant."

Hawkeye heard this analysis, and looked at Panther with a curious expression. "In other words, somebody that the great King of Wakanda can easily handle?"

"Precisely," Panther replied confidently. "So much so that I can finish this match much faster than you finished yours."

Naturally, this response caused Hawkeye to smile, as if Panther just started a 'friendly competition' between two teammates on who can win their matches quicker. "That I'd like to see."

The Panther looked at Hawkeye with a returning smile. "In that case, my friend, watch and learn." With that said, the Panther walked over to the teleportation pad, where Swordsman was already waiting.

As he watched the Panther leave, Hawkeye's smile soon disappeared and looked worried, knowing that Swordsman, just like his fellow Thunderbolts, is not going to fight fairly. _"Best of luck, tabby. Best of luck."_

The Black Panther and Swordsman soon arrived at there pads, and a split second later, the two fighters vanished out sight, causing the riled up fans to cheer for their next upcoming match-up.


	17. Chapter 17

**32ND FINALS: BLACK PANTHER VS. SWORDSMAN**

The place of battle for this match was that of the Kalahari Desert in Southern Africa, where there was a specially made platform with two teleportation pads sat in the middle the vast sandy landscape, with a Reg Bot standing by. Moments later, two flashes of light occur on the pads and soon materialize into the combatants, the Black Panther and the Swordsman.  
  
Thanks to the Ref Bot's camera, many people around the world saw the two heroes arrival at their destination, including the people of Brinin Zana, the capital city of Wakanda, where many of the residence watched their King's arrival in Kalahari via a large screen that floated on top of the large Panther statue in front of the Wakanda Royal Palace, and thus cheered upon seeing him.  
  
For Swordsman, he looked around the vast landscape and admired it. "Ah, such a lovely locale," said Swordsman, who then turned his attention to the Panther, smirking behind his faceplate. "Such a shame to lose here, don't you think? Given that this is your home continent."

In response, the Panther only shook his head at his sword wielding opponent in disgust. "I think that just like you teammates who fell before you, you are dangerously overconfident." As he continued, the Panther held up his left hand to show his claws. "Perhaps I should give you a lesson in humility."

With his smirk now turned into a scowl after hearing the Panther's reply, the Swordsman used his right hand to reach behind his back, then pulled out his sword and gets in a fencing posture. "You're welcome to try."

Suddenly, the Ref Bot floated in between the two combatants and with the announcer face on the screen. "All right gentlemen, I'm hoping that I don't have to remind you that you are to use your bladed weapons to either disarm your opponent or strike his belt buckle? After all, we don't want to repeat the mistakes with Silver Samurai."

The Swordsman rolled his eyes behind his faceplate before addressing the announcer. "Well, I can assure you that as a sportsman, I know I can," said the Thunderbolt, then turned straight ahead at the Panther and allowed a cocky smirk to appear on his face. "What about you, Your Highness?"

"Of course," the Panther replied, still in his fighting stance. "After all, I've been trained on how to properly hold bladed weapons...as I will show you!"

Seeing that thins between the two proud combatants was getting heated, a worried announcer decided to get things underway. "Well then, now that that's taken care..." With a mental command, the Ref Bot floated up high above the platform and into the air, as well as say the word in which the Panther, Swordsman, and the rest of the world was waiting for. "BEGIN!"

Swordsman, not wanting to waste another second, is the first to attack by thrusting the tip of his sword forward, aiming for the Panther's belt buckle.

Luckily for the Panther though, he side stepped to the left to avoid the attack and allowed Swordsman to pass right by him. The Wakandan King then concentrated and with the help of the circuitry in his suit, generated and manipulated the vibranium to form a glowing purple staff. With weapon now in hand, the Panthur twirled his staff and charged the sword wielding Thunderbolt.

As for Swordsman, he managed to stop himself just in time, and as he turned around, he saw the Panther running towards him and attacking by thrusting the right end of his energy staff towards his belt buckle. As such, Swordsman took his sword and managed to parry the attack and push the end of the Panther's staff to the right side. After deflecting the Panther's strike, Swordsman held his sword over his head and tried to slice his royal enemy's belt-buckle in two.

Fortunately for Panther, he held his staff over his head in a horizontal fashion and used the base of the staff to block the blade. He then counter-attacked by using his right foot to kick Swordsman in the chest, causing him to stumble backward. Knowing that he has the Thunderbolt on the ropes, the Panther swung his staff and aimed for Swordsman's right leg, intending to trip him.

Swordsman, however, saw this and darted his blade in front of his left leg, blocking the strike. Afterwards, he pulled his sword back and thrusts it again.  
  
The Panther blocked this attack as well, an easy feat given his years of training in hand-to-hand combat as a way to be strong both mentally and physically to bear the title as King of Wakanda. However, little did the Panther know, he and Swordsman were not the only ones in the desert, as there was an agent watching the match, wearing a light bending body suit that made him invisible. Afterwards, he put his hand over his right ear to activate his com-link. "Sir," the agent whispered. "I am in position, sir."  
  
Back in the Garden, it is revealed that the agent was talking to the Iron Patriot, who replied via the intercom system in his helmet. "Good, be prepared to act, but don't until I tell you to."  
  
Meanwhile, back in the Kalahari desert, the match between the Panther and Swordsman continued to heat up. As Panther used the bottom end of one end of his staff to block Swordsman's slash attack to his leg, he pushed the blade away from his person in a circular motion, all the while using the other end to strike Swordsman's head, but with the intensity of the vibranium set at a level which would knock him out cold and not kill him.

However, Swordsman anticipated this and thus held up his black to block the blow. Even after stopping the attack, the blade wielding Thunderbolt finds out that he's not out of danger yet, for he saw that the Wakandan King brought up his lower end of his staff for another head shot, causing Swordsman himself to duck and avoid the strike.

Even after missing his mark, Panther continued his assault by taking the same bottom end of his staff and brought it back, with his target being the back of Swordsman's skull.

Sadly though, Swordsman saw this thought the corner of his eye and acted by turning, held his sword over his head and with the blade pointing straight down and protecting the back of his skull, successfully blocking the staff strike.

The Panther, on the other hand, does not give up and thus turned and tried to strike Swordsman's orange faceplate with the other end of his staff, only to have the attack thwarted when the Thunderbolt brought down and held his body, using the blade to block the staff attack. In one last attempt to trip him, the Panther spun around and tried to use the bottom end of his staff to try and strike the Swordsman's right knee.

As for Swordsman, he managed to spot this attack coming and thus jumped up and flipped backward to sweep attempt. After landing on his feet, Swordsman fell back into a fencing stance, while the Panther twirled his staff and got back into a defensive stance. From then on, the Thunderbolt made his move by thrusting the tip of his sword forward, aiming for the Panther's buckle, only for the Wakandan King to use his staff to swat the blade to the left side with the end of his staff. However, even with the attack deflected, the Swordsman kept hold of his sword, and in the process, secretly pressed a small button built in the handle. Moments later, his blade soon glowed bright purple, the same color as the Panther's staff. With this new development, Swordsman held the blade up and went for an overhead slash.

Though shocked at what just happened to the Thunderbolt's sword, the Panther nonetheless held his staff up over his head and away from his body to block the attack. But what was surprising of all, when both glowing blade and the base of the staff collided, the blade managed to cut the staff in two. Shocked that his weapon is now broken, the Panther barely managed to back away to avoid the slash, but in the process, is forced to let go of the two purple sticks that once made up his staff, causing them to disappear. Though weaponless, the Panther still remained vigilant as he got in a fighting stance and seemed fascinated as well as confused as he looked at Swordsman's now bright glowing purple blade, all in which made the brave King of Vakanda came to this conclusion. "Vibranium? I'm assuming Osborn gave that to you?"

"Smart boy!" Swordsman replied with a smug tone, then returned into his fencing stance. "But don't hold your breath if I choose not to tell you how he got it!" With that said, Swordsman thrusts his glowing blade forward once more, with the intent of bringing the Panther down and winning this match.

Fortunately for Panther, he put his agility to good use by dashing to the left side and narrowly dodged the Swordsman's attack. He then secretly generated a vibranium from his left hand, threw it and hit the hilt of Swordsman's sword, causing the Thunderbolt to drop it. "I can uncover that information later," said the Panther as he got back into an unarmed fighting stance. "For now, I'm curious to see how well you fight without that sword of yours!"

To answer the question, the now weaponless Swordsman quickly got into a Wushu fighting stance. "Well, come at me and find out for yourself!"

Panther wasted no time in taking up Swordsman's offer, and thus dashed in and jumped like like his namesake pouncing its prey.

Though this method is successful in tackling the Swordsman to the floor, Swordsman to the floor, the Thunderbolt himself countered by grabbing the Panther's shoulders as he went down, then placed his right foot on the Wakandan King's abdomen, giving him a stomach throw.

The Panther recovered by rolling forward and landing in a kneeling position. And as the Wakandan King stood up and turned around, he noticed the Swordsman popping back up on his feet, then spinning around and ran towards him a full force, throwing a right jab once he got close enough. Acting fast, the Panther used his left hand to block the jab and pushed downward on the inside, then goes to counter attack by throwing a spinning back-fist.

Swordsman, however, saw this attack coming and thus ducked underneath the blow to avoid it. As he popped back up, Swordsman attempted to fight back by throwing a left hook.

Fortunately for Panther, he is quick enough to hold up his left arm to block the incoming blow, then responded with a right jab to his faceplate, crackling it and leaving the Thunderbolt stunned. This gives the Wakandan King the opening he needed to run in, jump up in the air and gave Swordsman a left legged round kick, which shattered his faceplate to reveal the face of Andreas Von Strucker as he landed hard on the platform floor

As Andreas rolled onto his back in a daze, the Panther walked off to the fallen Thunderbolt, with the intent of destroying his belt with a punch and win the match for himself and his fellow Avengers.  
  
However, the camouflaged agent was still in position watching the match, and waiting for the order to intervene. Finally, he got the message he was waiting for when he heard the Patriot's voice in his com-link.  
  
 _ **"Well,"**_ said the Patriot on the other end. _**"Looks like Von Strucker could use a hand."**_  
  
"Understood," replied the undercover agent, then acted by pulling a small mirror from out of his pocket, then used it to reflect light from the sun, and flashed it in the Panther's eyes, momentarily blinding the Wakandan King and causing him to take two steps away from Andreas.  
  
As for Andreas, once he saw the Panther blinded and deducing that one of the undercover S.H.I.E.L.D. agents is behind this, he quickly pressed a small button in his right gauntlet then pointed it at his swords. It was revealed that Andreas had a small magnet built in the gauntlet, as the sword is came to his open hand. Once he caught the sword's handle, Andreas quickly sat up in a kneeling position and thrust the tip of his blade into the Panther's buckle, which surprised the Wakandan King, and caused yellow energy to surround him and froze him in place.

Needless to say, the whole world saw this happen, including the people in Wakanda, who all stood in shock and total silence, as they could not believe that their great and brave King fall. And to make matters worse, lost to an opponent who ended up using his weapon when the Panther was beating him hand to hand and proving to be his physical superior.  
  
Nevertheless, the Ref Bot floated over to Andreas, as he was twirling his sword back into the scabbard on his back, all so the announcer can announce him as the winner. "Ladies and gentlemen, here is your winner...Swordsman!"

Andreas could hear the cheering Thunderbolts fans back in the Garden through the Ref Bot's screen, and it brought a smile to his face. Not out of appreciation for the people who actually saw him as a favored hero, but rather, he found the cheering of the American 'sheep' to be amusing. The smirking Andreas then turned his attention to the panther, who was still frozen in place. "Teach me humility?" asked Andreas in an arrogant tone. "Well, you're clearly in no position to do that...not that you ever were anyway."

**WINNER: SWORDSMAN**


	18. Chapter 18

**MAD BRAWL**

The reaction in the Garden is a mixture of cheers from the Thunderbolts fans, as well as boos from the Avengers fans. But from the Avengers themselves, it's shocked silence. However, while his teammates were stunned at what they just saw, it was Hawkeye who was seething with anger, so much so that it worried his normally calm former partner, the Black Widow. Finally, Hawkeye exploded, "BULL!"

This immediately caused Widow to come in and quickly grabbed Hawkeye's shoulder. "Clint, hold on! Keep a cool head!" Two other Avenger, Spidey and Ms. Marvel, both see Hawkeye's outburst and join Widow in holding the archer and prevent him from doing something stupid.

Something that also did not sit too well with the angry Hawkeye. "Oh come on, you saw what happened just like all of us, Tasha!" he snapped back. "T'Challa had this fight in the back, but he looked like something was messing with him before he could finish off that sword twirling punk off!" Osborn must've-" Suddenly, before Hawkeye can finish his rant, he stopped when he noticed the Swordsman, Andreas Von Strucker, appeared on the platform, where he is greeted by the crowed that gave him a mixture of cheers and boos. Upon laying eyes on the man who cheated his way to victory, and at his colleague's expense, a furious Hawkeye was just about to storm over to Andreas and punch his lights out, only to have both Widow and Spidey hold him back. "You and me, punk!" yelled the archer. "After I beat whoever I'm fighting next, I'm coming for you!"

Andreas gave Hawkeye an arrogant smirk, then turned his back on him as he walked over to his fellow Thunderbolts. Once he arrived before his teammates, Andreas spotted a male stagehand with a Thunderbolt symbol on his right sleeve holding his hands before Andreas, as if expecting him to give him something. As such, Andreas removed his helmet, broken faceplate and all, and handed it to the aid.

Naturally, Hawkeye did not take too kindly to being ignored, and tried even harder to break free from his teammates grip.

Finally, Spidey decided to speak up as he held the furious archer back. "Whoa, chill out there, champ!"

This remark caused Hawkeye to turn and give the Web-Head an angry glare. "...'Chill out, champ?'" he quoted irritably. "You think this is a game kid?!"

Suddenly, a concerned Widow placed her hand on Hawkeye's cheek and turn his face to make him face her. "Clint, the kid's got a point."

Speaking next is that of a concerned Ms. Marvel. "Yeah, he does," said the blonde haired Avenger, causing Hawkeye to turn and look at her instead. "Yes, that Swordsman guy deserves a good beating after what he did to T'Challa, but we need to be smart about it. Meaning we all need to keep a cool head and not give them the satisfaction that they're getting to us, as well as save all that anger and energy for the next few matches."

A frustrated Hawkeye remained silent for a few moments before reluctantly sign, knowing both heroines were right. "Fine," he said annoyed. "Doesn't mean I have to like it!" With that said, Hawkeye turned away and walked over to a corner so he can be by himself and cool off.

Needless to say, this experience caused Spidey to have a dejected look. _"Well, that went well,"_ he thought, silently hoping that momentarily annoying Hawkeye would not harm his current 'performance review' in regards to staying part of the team.

Widow, however, soon stepped towards Spidey to try and assure him that Hawkeye meant not disrespect, as she usually did back when they were partners whenever he rubbed someone off the wrong way. "Don't take it too personal, kid," she told him, trying to sound comforting. "He just gets wired up whenever he's worried about his teammate."

"No, no, it's okay," Spidey replied, holding up his hands. "Believe me, after what just happened, I don't blame him for being miffed." A moment later, Spidey looked up to see Gwen is still in the guest, or more accurately, hostage of Victoria Hand. _"In fact, he's not the only one worried about the well-being of a someone close."_

Meanwhile, back in the Arkansas Ozarks, the Hulk is having problems of his own, receiving a massive right hook from Madman which sent him flying and plowing through five trees. The Green Goliath then sat up and shook off the effects of the punch, but then looked straight ahead to see Madman himself running towards him. As such, the Hulk acted by grabbing one of the trees he knocked down, then swung it like a baseball bat and successfully whacked Madman into a nearby lake.

The now soaked Madman rose from out of the water, more angry than anything else, but then heard a loud, anger filled roar, which prompted him to look up and see the now airborne Hulk coming down towards him. This, of coursed, prompted him to leap up towards the Hulk and greet him with a mighty headbutt to his face. Moments later, he grabbed the dazed Hulk's ankles, spun him around and threw him down to the ground, causing him to crash into the earth so hard, it created a loud boom and a large and a large hole into the ground.

As the Hulk laid there disoriented, he is brought back to reality when he heard the maniacal laughter of Madman, and upon looking up, he saw his cone-shaped enemy coming down with his right fist cocked back, forcing the Green Goliath to roll to the left side and make Madman ram his fist into the ground instead, with enough force to make the hole deeper. After getting back up on his feet, Hulk ran in and gave the kneeling Madman a hard left uppercut to his face, knocking the brown skinned behemoth up into the air and landing hard on his back.

However, Madman is just as tough to take such punishment, and this rolled off his back on to his stomach and quickly got back up on his feet. He later spotted Hulk running towards him and throwing a right hook, all which prompted Madman to hold up his right arm to block the blow, then responded with a left uppercut to the Jade Giant's jaw, then capitalized with a right cross, knocking his green enemy to the ground on one knee. Moments later, Madman quickly dashed behind the kneeling Hulk, then wrapped his massive arms around his neck, putting him in a reverse chin-lock. With the Hulk now in his grasp, Madman created another surprise by speaking into the intercom system in his collar. "All right boys, ready when you are!"

Elsewhere in the world, Madman's transmission is sent to the S.H.I.E.L.D. helocarrier, where it's heard by that of a male, Hispanic agent sitting at a computer station and Maria Hill. After receiving word from Madman, the stone faced Maria turned to the agent next to her. "You heard the monster. Get on with it."

With a small nod, the Hispanic agent proceeded to type in a sequence in his keyboard. A sequence which is picked up by a space satellite in Earth's orbit, and moments later, a hatch opened up at it's bottom and a long barrel came out...and charged with energy.

Back on Earth, as Hulk struggled to get free from Madman's hold, he looked somewhat curious as to who Madman was talking to. "What, you're resorting to using friends to end your battles for you?"

"Whatever works to get revenge, jolly green," replied grinning Madman as he tightened his grip. "And who knows, when I finally get rid of you...and can have some nice quality time with that little girlfriend of yours."

Suddenly, hearing Madman mention Betty in such a sleazy way caused something with the Hulk to snap and fill him with great rage. So much so, that the Green Goliath took his right arm and started elbowing his cone-headed opponent in his stomach at least three times. With his strength growing along with his anger, Madman finally released his hold over Hulk's neck, all in which gives the green skinned opportunity to give Madman a hard right back-fist, which in turned knocked the brown skinned monster off his feet. Hulk then walked over to the fallen Madman, and before he could even knock him out, he is stopped and left puzzled when he noticed that he and his opponent were under a blue light. As he looked up, the Jade Giant is shocked to see that the light was coming from a huge blue energy coming down from the sky, which was fired from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s laser satellite, all in which prompted Hulk to hold his arms over his head in a an 'X' fashion to block it.

As for the disoriented Madman, he looked up and also saw the giant green energy beam coming down, but instead of trying to block it, or even scream in fear, he lived up to his namesake and begun laughing maniacally.

Moments later, the blast hit both monsters, as well as everything else in the area and created a large explosion of brilliant white light, one that was big enough to cover what would be three city blocks. A few moments later, the smoke finally clears and revealed that the Hulk, still standing with his arms crossed and miraculously unharmed, yet still smoking. As the Green Goliath pulled his arms away and observed the destruction, he looked down and saw Madman, unconscious but still alive. Though he was a little confused as to what just happened, for the most part, Hulk didn't care. For he was just happy to have the 'annoyance' of Madman out of his hair.

However, this just led to the appearance of another nuisance that the Hulk can barely stand: the astral form of Bruce Banner, who looked worried about the things that transpired. "That had to be the work of a defense satellite. One that's operated by S.H.I.E.L.D."

Hulk let out an unimpressed snort in response. "Whatever, they just like THIS loser," said the Green Goliath, pointing at the knocked out Madman. "Won't stop me from finding Osborn and smashing him!" With that declaration, the Hulk leaped up in the air and continued on his search from his sworn target: Norman Osborn.

Meanwhile, back in the helocarrier, both Maria and the male agent saw what just transpired on the screen, with Maria herself looking less than pleased.

As for the agent, he looked quite worried of how Maria will react to this news, but nonetheless does his duty to inform her. "Direct hit ma'am, but subject is still mobile. It'll take at least an hour for the Grazer-P1 to recharge and fire again. Would you like me to...?"

"Don't bother," Maria interjected. "If the Hulk could survive that, the second time won't be any different. Just use our other satellites to keep track of him and all nearby agents to remain on stand by."

"Y-Yes, ma'am," the agent sheepishly replied, and thus typed on his computer to gain access to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s other satellites and pulled up an image of the Hulk leaping once again.

Maria, however, walked back over to the commander's station on the bridged and observed the main screen, which was showing the continued proceedings of the Contest of Champions tournament.

Back in the Garden, the announcer addressed the cheering crowd. "All right folks, for our next match-up, we once again switching things over to the ladies! For we have the Avengers' Ms. Marvel talking on the Thunderbolts' Moonstone!"

With the names announced, both fighting females of their respected teams proceeded to the platforms. For Moonstone, she went on with a confident smile on her face, loving the sound of people cheering for her, and enjoying her new celebrity status since joining the Ultimates. But more importantly, she loved the fact that she was going to be facing Ms. Marvel, and relishing the opportunity to defeat and humiliate her in front of the whole world, which no doubt would add more to her fame.

For Ms. Marvel, she saw this as an important task that needed to be done, a mindset she always kept as a member of the Air Force, agent of S.W.O.R.D., and more importantly, an Avenger. Just as Ms. Marvel could reach the platform, the human sized Wasp came up and gave her lifelong friend some encouragement. "Carol!" Wasp called out, getting the Warbird's attention and caused her to turn and face her. Once she got her friend's attention, the size-altering founding Avenger gave her a small smile. "Good luck!"

Also joining in support for Ms. Marvel was that of Captain America, who stepped forward and stood up straight, his usual way of addressing a fellow soldier like himself. "Give her hell, soldier."

As for Ms. Marvel herself, she smiled as she gave both Wasp and Cap a nod, followed by an additional salute to Cap himself. "I always do." With that answer, the Warbird of the Avengers turned around, walked over and stepped on her teleportation pad, while the smirking Moonstone is already on hers.

Seconds later, both Ms. Marvel and Moonstone vanished out of sight and went off to parts unknown to begin their match.


	19. Chapter 19

**32ND FINALS: MS. MARVEL VS. MOONSTONE**

The fighting this time took place in Arizona, more specifically, the large and wide Grand Canyon! A site that normally had tourists all year round, but this time, had more people than usual thanks to the CoC tournament, for it now had hundreds of spectators, young and old, all gathered against the laser ropes which this time were stationed around the edge of the canyon, all to cheer for the two participants. Sure enough, the fighters themselves, Ms. Marvel and Moonstone, all appeared deep within the canyon itself, causing the crowd to go wild once they saw them, either by looking down or watching via the large, football field sized holoscreen floating right above them.

Moonstone herself embraced the cheering, and looked up at the crowd above her with a pleased smirk. "Well now," said the female Thunderbolt, then looked at Ms. Marvel with a cocky expression. "Glad that I've got an audience to see me beat your bony butt into next week."

"If I had a nickel for every time I heard a villain tell me that, I'd be as rich as Tony," Ms. Marvel retorted, completely unphased by her opponent's bravado.

Little did both Ms. Marvel and Moonstone know, the Ref Bot was floating down towards them when Ms. Marvel made that remark, and thus broadcasted it throughout the world. Including to the audience in Madison Square Garden. And while the Thunderbolts fans booed the Warbird, the Avengers fans all laughed and cheered in approval.

Also hearing Ms. Marvel's words were that of her teammates, the Avengers, and it is Hawkeye, with his arms crossed and smirk present, is the first to speak. "Well, that's one thing Carol and I can agree on.

Not far from the archer were Spidey and Wasp, with Wasp herself giving Hawkeye a somewhat displeased look. "Good to know," she told him coldly, then looked back up on the screen and smiled when she saw Ms. Marvel. "Still, I know Carol's got this in the bag."

Spidey is soon quick to turn to answer the Wasp, hoping to help boost morale for the team. "Hey, no argument here," he said in a light-hearted tone, then looked back up at the screen to watch the upcoming match. However, despite knowing that Ms. Marvel could hold her own, he still couldn't help but be worried. _"But given the fact that Norman hasn't exactly been playing fair, I just hope Ms. Marvel can handle whatever tricks he's got set up this time."_

Meanwhile, back in the Canyon, the Ref Bot had just floated in between both Ms. Marvel and Moonstone. "now then," said the announcer via small screen. "I'm sure you ladies are familiar with the rules?"

Moonstone is the first to reply, cocky smile still present. "Of course," she told the announcer. "You, as well as the rest of the world, will have the pleaseure of seeing me give Ms. Has-Been over here a fair and square beat down!"

Ms. Marvel just stared Moonstone down, offender by her arrogance. "Just keep talking, princess."

Sensing the tension, the announcer decided to get things started. "A-All right then, let's not waste anymore time," he said in a sheepish and uncomfortable tone, then mentally commanded the Ref-Bot to float up back up high into the air. "BEGIN!"

Upon hearing this, Moonstone is the first to start things off by holding out her right open palm and firing an energy blast, aiming for Ms. Marvel's belt buckle.

Luckily for the Warbird though, she saw this attack coming, the jumped up to avoid the blast and hovered into the air. She then responded by pointing both of her hands down at Moonstone and fired and energy blast of her own.

However, Moonstone avoided this in the most unusual of ways, in that she just casually stood there and waited for the blast to come her way and once it did so, it did not hit her, but instead passed right through her.

A sight in which caused Ms. Marvel's eyes to grow wide with shock. "What the...?"

The speechless expression of the normally emotionally reserved Avenger brought out a laugh in Moonstone. "Didn't see that coming, did you?" she asked the dumbfounded Ms. Marvel, then flew straight towards her at full speed.

Seeing the Thunderbolt coming her way, Ms. Marvel held her arms in front of her in an 'X' fashion to block Moonstone's incoming , instead of receiving a powerful blow, she is once again surprised when Moonstone phased right through her. Though shocked, Ms. Marvel knew she couldn't afford to be taken from behind and thus spun around to face Moonstone, only for the Thunderbolt to act fast by solidifying herself and giving the blonde haired Avenger a hard jab to the face.

With Ms. Marvel now disoriented, Moonstone tried to end this match early by throwing a right legged front kick, aiming for her enemy's belt buckle.

Miraculously, Ms. Marvel snapped out of her dazed just in the nick of time to see Moonstone throwing her kick and acted by grabbing her foot with both hands. Afterwards, she spun Moonstone around in a circle at high speeds, until finally released her foot, sending the Thunderbolt flying and crashing into a rocky wall, causing stones to tumble on top of her.

Mere seconds later, a large explosion of energy occur, and Moonstone is seen bursting out of the rubble, screaming in pure rage. For her, taking a punch was one thing, but being embarrassed and humiliated in front of a large amount of people was, in her mind, crossing the line. And so, once she arrived high into the air, Moonstone once again charged towards Ms. Marvel, and along the way, charged up her fist and cocking it back.

As for Ms. Marvel herself, she saw Moonstone coming her way and thus charged her right fist with Kree energy, then flew straight towards her enraged opponent. It wasn't long before the two flying ladies finally approach one another and both threw their energy charged right hooks, and with their fists collided, it produced a loud shockwave which echoed throughout the entire canyon.

Luckily for the spectators watching above, the laser ropes are able to protect them from the shockwave, but they nevertheless cheer for such a show of power from both females fighters.

Back in the canyon, Ms. Marvel and Moonstone find themselves trading powerful blows, with impact so loud, it made thunderous echoed throughout the canyon itself. After holding up her left arm to block Moonstone's left legged round kick to her head, Ms. Marvel made her move by throwing a right uppercut.

Moonstone, however, saw this and backed away to avoid the punch. The Thunderbolt later spotted the Warbird throwing a left legged spinning back heel kick, forcing her to bring up her left arm to block it.

Not wanting to give Moonstone a chance to counter attack, Ms. Marvel quickly pulled her left leg back, then spun around and threw a right back fist.

However, Moonstone saw this and not only held up both of her arms on the right side to block the blow, she fought back by using her right hand to grab Ms. Marvel's wrist, then used her left fist to give the Warbird a quick back-fist of her own, hitting her in the face. Wit the battle hardened Avenger dazed, Moonstone capitalized by taking hold of the Avenger's arm with both of her hands, then spun her around with speed comparable to that of an F-5 tornado, then threw her down towards the ground.

Luckily for Ms. Marvel, however, she controlled her fall by flipping forward and landing on her feet with impact so strong, she actually made a crack into the rocky surface beneath her. After recovering, Ms. Marvel looked up to see Moonstone coming down towards her with her right fist cocked back, no doubt with the intent of smashing the Warbird into the rocky ground. As such, she attempted to fight back by charging her fists, then throwing them up and firing a Kree blast at her incoming opponent.

However, despite being further frustrated, Moonstone managed to be level headed enough to make her body intangible and allow the Kree blast to pass right through her. Moments later, the Thunderbolt solidified herself once again, and upon seeing Ms. Marvel now flying straight towards her, she waited for her to get close then threw a fierce right hook.

Ms. Marvel, however, held up her right arm and successfully blocked the punch then responded by throwing a left jab to the face. An attack which only angered the Thunderbolt, who easily blocked it with her left and pushed the Avenger's fist outward. But thanks to her training in the Air Force, as well as additional training from Captain America since joining the Avengers, Ms. Marvel did not let her blocked attack keep her down, as she proved by spotting and blocking Moonstone's incoming two jabs, then held up her left arm to block an incoming left hook and fought back by successfully landing a right cross to Moonstone's jaw, followed by a left round kick to the head, which was powerful enough to send the Thunderbolt flying down to the right side and crashing into the ground, causing a large cloud of upon impact. As she flew down to look for Moonstone, Ms. Marvel saw the dirt cloud fade away, only to see that the Thunderbolt herself was nowhere to be found.

Suddenly, the Warbird received quite the surprise when Moonstone phased through the ground and fired an energy blast from both of her hands, aiming for the Avenger herself. Though this did shock her at first, Ms. Marvel managed to save herself just in time by instinctively firing a Kree blast from out of her hands, which turned, collided with Moonstone's blast and the two engaged in an energy 'tug of war.'

Meanwhile, back in the Garden, where the stadium was now filled the cheers of the pumped up audience, the Iron Patriot took this moment to secretly use the intercom system in his helmet. "Osborn to Grand Canyon operative," he said confidently, knowing that while he can be heard in his helmet, the people around him, including his teammates, could not due to the cheering. "Now would be a good time to move in."

Back in the Grand Canyon, hidden in the midst of the rocks and hills, was a man dressed in brown camouflage watching the fight out of sight. "Acknowledged," he replied, then pulled out a small mirror and used it to reflect the light from the sun...and into Ms. Marvel's eyes.

With her eyes hurting from the flashes, Ms. Marvel inadvertently allowed herself to be distracted and stopped focusing her blast, causing it to get weaker.

For Moonstone, she knew that this was the result of the 'insurance policy' that was the agents that Osborn had sent down before the match, and wasted no time in taking advantage of this opportunity by increasing the power to the blast, hitting Ms. Marvel head on and sending her flying into the canyon wall, causing tons of solid rock to fall on top of her.

It was a sight that did not sit well with the Avengers and their fans back in the Garden, namely that of the Wasp, who is horrified to see her friend underneath all that rock. _"CAROL!"_

Another person shocked by this is that of Spidey, who looked up on the image of the rubble covering the fallen Ms. Marvel, something that made his eyes grow wide. _"No...!"_

Back in the Grand Canyon a smiling and seemingly triumphant Moonstone came floating to the also caused the Ref Bot to float down with the announcer's troubled face on the screen. "Oh, boy..."

"Relax," Moonstone told the announcer, sounding somewhat irritable. "She's survived worst tumbles than that. But let's go ahead and get this over with!" With that said, Moonstone flew in and phased through the rubble to try and find Ms. Marvel. However, after a few seconds, what followed next was a huge explosion of power, revealing a screaming Moonstone, and most surprising of all, Ms. Marvel herself was nowhere to be found. "Where is she?!" she yelled in frustration, then looked around and frantically, she looked down and saw a large hole in the ground, as if someone with great strength and burrowed or blasted through there. A sight which obviously worried, and even frightened the Thunderbolt. "No...NO!" she screamed and looked around for the Warbird in a panic.

And while Moonstone was too busy frantically searching for her opponent, Ms. Marvel herself literally bursts out of the ground underneath Moonstone and nailed the unsuspecting Thunderbolt with a left uppercut to her chin, sending her up high in the air. "You're not the only one who can be sneaky!" said the Warbird as she flew along with the dazed Moonstone, then took her right fist and delivered a stiff middle punch into the Thunderbolt's belt buckle, destroying it. As expected, this caused yellow energy to engulf Moonstone, who by the time she came to, she was already frozen in a panicked postured and soon feel to the ground.

In the Garden, both the Avengers and their fans in the crowd all cheered at seeing Ms. Marvel's victory, especially that of Wasp and Spidey, who seemed to be more enthusiastic than that of their teammates. "YES!" yelled both Wasp and Spidey in unison, sound just as happy as the team's fans in the audience.

Back in the Canyon, Ms. Marvel flew down and landed right next to the defeated Moonstone, with the Ref Bot wasting no time in floating towards the victorious Warbird, with the announcer's smiling face on the screen. "Here is your winner, Ms. Marvel!"

The crowd high above the canyon all roared with applause, and while Ms. Marvel herself appreciated the crowd's support and admiration, the soldier in her helped keep her emotions in check. For she knew that winning this match was just one battle. And one battle wasn't going to win this war that was in the form of a tournament.

**WINNER: MS. MARVEL**


	20. Chapter 20

**MEETING OF WIDOWS**

After winning her match, Ms. Marvel arrived back in the Garden, where the Avengers fans all roar with applause upon seeing her. Out of all the Avengers in their corner, it is the pixie sized Wasp who was the happiest, as she flew towards her friend, then grew back to human size and hugged her tightly. "All right, Carol!" she said enthusiastically, then pulled away so she can face her. "Way to kick some serious butt!"

"Of course," Ms. Marvel answered back with a small smile. "Would you expect anything less?"

Another one of the Avengers to phrase the Warbird was that of Cap, who stepped forward to address her. "I know wouldn't," said the Super Soldier. "Nice work, soldier."

Ms. Marvel, even being a well seasoned soldier in her own right, couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed from being complimented by the living legend that was Captain America. But nevertheless, gave Cap a nod while trying to stay professional. "Thanks, Cap."

Spidey stayed where he was, silently admiring Ms. Marvel as well as the rest of the Avengers who gathered around her. _"Gotta admit, these guy make pounding on bad guys look easy,"_ thought the Web-Head, then turned to Wolverine, who by this time had his arms crossed as he watched the Avengers in congratulating Ms. Marvel. _"Same goes for Wolvie here...even though I still don't feel comfortable around him."_

Through the corner of his eye, Wolverine noticed Spidey staring at him and turned to him with an irritated expression. "What're you starin' at Web-Head?"

"Huh, oh, uh...nothing," Spidey replied somewhat hesitantly. "I was just...admiring your costume."

Wolverine was not convinced by that answer, and knew fool well that the young Web-Head didn't think to much of him, but nevertheless decided to humor him. "Yeah, well, considerin' yours looks like crap, can't say that I blame ya."

Needless to say, this retort left Spidey a little discouraged, as well as annoyed. "I walked right into that one."

Moments later, the announcer took center stage once again to address the crowd. "All right folks, are you ready for some more action?!" he asked loudly, receiving a loud, thunderous roar of applause, so loud that it could be heard through the entire city. "All right then, let's keep things rolling a match to see who is worthy of the title 'Black Widow'! For up next we have the Avengers' Natasha Romanov going up against the Thunderbolts' Yelena Belova!"

Upon hearing this announcement, the Avengers' Widow, Natasha, took a moment to check bracelets to see if they were read and loaded before her match. As she did this, Hawkeye took this moment to give his old partner some last minute words of support. "Give her hell, Tasha," said the Archer. "Show her why you're the real Black Widow."

After checking both of her bracelets, Natasha answered Hawkeye while looking forward and locking eyes with the Thunderbolts Widow, Yelena, and gave her a grim expression. "I show her once before, this time won't be any different." Before departing, Natasha looked over her shoulder to face Hawkeye, and gave him a small smile. "But thanks for the faith, Clint." Natsha gave her old partner and friend a small wink, then turned around and walked over to the teleportation pad, leaving behind a smirking, but secretly worried Hawkeye.

Over the Thunderbolts corner, Yelena is seen popping her knuckles, relishing the opportunity pound Natasha into submission in front of the world. However, this also prompted the Patriot to walk over and address Yelena before she walked off. "Belova, I'm quite aware that you and Romanov have a history, but I'm hoping that you don't have to remind you to play nice, for the sake of the plan."

Yelena sighed in aggravation as she answered the Patriot. "No sir," she told her armored superior, trying to sound professional but still came of as aggravated. "I'll stick to just besting her in hand-to-hand combat...for now." With that said, Yelena proceeded over to the teleportation pad, upon which time, Natsha was already standing on and waiting.

Once both 'Widows' were on their respected pads, they soon disappeared to their unknown location, ready to do battle to prove who is worthy of being called the TRUE Black Widow.


	21. Chapter 21

**32ND FINALS: NATASHA ROMANOV VS. YELENA BELOVA**

The place of battle this time was that of Moscow, Russia, more importantly, in front of the world famous Kremlin, with a small ring set up for the fighters and with the eager spectators behind the yellow energy ropes to enjoy the action. Sure enough, the two Black Widows, the red headed Natasha and the blonde Yelena, both appeared on the ring, causing the native Russian crowd to cheer in excitement.

Yelena took a moment to look around at her homeland, as well enjoying the Thundebolts fans cheering for her, then turned to Natasha a smug smile. "No place like home, huh Tasha?" she asked in a snide tone, some what taunting her sworn enemy. "I suppose Mother Russia is an appropriate place to show you, and the rest of the world, that I'M the one fitting of the Black Widow title!"

Natasha did not answer Yelena, instead she gave her an angry glare, disgusted with how her blonde enemy could be so arrogant, even after their last meeting...

_...it was in the hanger of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helocarrier, less than two years go, in which Yelena herself, donned in a S.H.I.E.L.D. jumpsuit at that time, sneaked into the hanger via air shaft and was going to steel a right one of the hovercrafts after stealing top secret files from the Helocarrier's databanks, and was now being chased by her agents because of it. After looking around for so long, Yelena found a hovercraft and ran towards it on her way to freedom._

_Unfortunately for Yelena, however, she is surprised to see Natasha herself, with her arms crossed and leaning her back up against the aircraft's door, waiting for her. "Off to meet your new friends in H.Y.D.R.A., Yelena?"_

_Naturally, Yelena was shocked to see Natasha right in front of her, despite tying her hardest not to show it. "Come on, Natasha," she told her soon to be former comrade, with a smile slowly appearing as she tried to charm her way out of this confrontation. "Do you really think you're on the winning side by sticking with S.H.I.E.L.D.? H.Y.D.R.A. has every corporation and every politician in their pocket. It's only a matter of time before they gain control of the whole globe. Let me pass, and I'll see if I can put in a good word for you with Baron Von Strucker."_

_Natasha, however, remained unmoved by her words, as well as disgusted. "Please, don't insult us both by giving empty promises," she said coldly. "Especially given the fact that agents will be in here at any moment...which further proves how much of an amateur you truly are." Natasha could see Yelena's smile turn into an angry scowl but giving such a comment, something in which she wanted in attacking the blonde haired traitor's pride. "I mean, the fact that S.H.I.E.L.D. now knows you're a double agent all because you got careless in stealing our files, it goes to show that a high school janitor would make a better spy than you!"_

_With her mind now filled with rage, Yelena quickly charged in and threw a right straight punch, aiming for Natasha's nose._

_Luckily for Natasha, however, she anticipated this and thus used her left arm to not only block the punch, but push it to the left side. This gave the red headed Black Widow the opening she needed for an attack of her own as she took the tips of her right index and middle fingers and pressed down on a nerve in Yelena's neck, which was a pressure point that was used to neutralize enemies by putting them to sleep as oppose to killing them._

_After feeling a sharp pain in her neck, Yelena soon began to feel light headed and her vision started to go black. It wasn't long before Yelena's eyes crossed, then slow closed them as she slumped into Natasha's waiting arms, completely unconscious._

_This allowed Natasha herself to gently lay the now sleeping traitor on to the floor. "Thanks for proving my point," said the Black Widow of S.H.I.E.L.D. as she then frisked and search Yelena's body and found and pulled out what she was looking for inside her right bracelet, that being a flash drive to which Yelena used to store the stolen files._

_Moments later, the hanger's man door opened up, and in come a hand gun carrying Nick Fury, who at that time had hair and a standard blue jumpsuit. Hawkeye was also present, bow and arrow drawn, as well as three armed S.H.I.E.L.D. agents carrying laser files. Once they saw Natasta standing with the flash drive and an outcold Yelena at her feet, a astounded Hawkeye is the first to speak. "Whoa Nat, what did we miss?"_

_"Not much, Clint," Natasha replied, sounding somewhat disappointed. "I was expecting more from her."_

_Nick, on the other hand, maintained his always serious expression as he placed his gun back in his holster and approached Natasha. "Well, you know what I'm expecting Romanov? You getting that drive back."  
_

_With that said, Natasha pulled the drive out of her bracelet and handed the dive over to her eye patch wearing superior. "Right here, sir."_

_"Nice work," replied a pleased, but still not smiling Nick as he took the drive, and as he placed it back in his pocket, he turned his attention to Hawkeye. "Burton, you and the men secure Belova and throw her in a holding cell. Romanov, come with me, I got a job for you." With that said, Nick walked over to the door, leaving everyone, with the exception of Natasha herself, completely dumbfounded._

_Despite being a little confused himself, Hawkeye still played it off as he turned to Natasha and gave her a small smile. "Whatever job Nick's got for you, hope you're bringing me along for the ride. For a giant flying boat in the sky, things have been pretty boring around here lately."_

_Natasha turned and gave Hawkeye a sly smile of her own, as well as a wink. "Wouldn't dream of working without you, Clint."_

_After giving his red headed partner a nod, a smiling Hawkeye turned and keep his electric arrow pointed at Yelena in case she woke up as the agents began to cuff her._

_As for Natasha, she soon walked with Nick over to the door, where he later pressed a computerized dashboard and opened the door. "You did good, Romanov, getting the files stolen by Belova," he said as he and Natasha walked through the doorway. "It's good to know that S.H.I. .'s secrets are out of the hands of a traitor..." As the door closed behind them, Nick looked around to see no one nearby and thus felt comfortable saying this quietly to Natasha's ear. "...but instead in the hands of a traitor that I trust."_

_Natasha said nothing, but did give Nick a nod of acknowledgement. For she knew that she was set to begin her undercover mission to infiltrate H.Y.D.R.A. as a double agent. However, being is how she could not tell anyone else in S.H.I.E.L.D., not even Hawkeye, she couldn't help but feel saddened and alone. Feelings of what she was forced to keep to herself..._

...Back in the present, Natasha shook her head to regain focus in her match, more specifically, Yelena, the person thought she had long thought put away but was now free because of Osborn. So many questions kept running through her mind. Could H.Y.D.R.A. still be alive even with Baron Von Strucker locked up. And if so, was Osborn part of it, as well as the rest of his band of fake heroes? Either way, she would have to find out later, for she had an old enemy to deal with. "I beat you before, Belova," said the determined Natasha. "And last time I checked, rather easily. This time won't be any different."

Yelena cocky smile soon turned to that of a bitter scowl when Natasha reminded her of that fateful day she captured her, thus clinched her fists so tightly, popping could be heard. "Oh, but this time, I've got a few new surprises. As I'll show you right here and now!"

Realizing that the tensions between the two females had reached its boiling point, the announcer figured that it was time to start the match. "All right, I'm sure you ladies know the rules," said the announcer, as well as seeing the two Widows still locking eyes with one another and thus can only pray that they were familiar with the rules and will abide by them. As such, he mentally the Ref Bot floated high above them. "BEGIN!" Upon hearing that announcement, a smirking Yelena is the first to start things off by holding up her right arm and shooting a cable out of the bracelet in hopes of tying up Natasha.

Luckily for Natasha though, she easily spotted the cable coming her way and quickly ducked to avoid it. Afterwards, the red headed Widow went on the offensive by firing a cable of her own and aiming for Yelena's ankles in an attempt to trip her.

However, Yelena saw this coming and thus jumped and flipped in a corkscrew motion over to the left side to avoid it. After landing on her feet, and retracting cable, she held up both of her arms and begun to fire none lethal rubber bullets at Natasha.

Natasha, on the other hand, easily saw this and thus rolled over to the left, dodging the bullets in the process. After getting stopping in a knelling position, Natasha got right back up, retracted her cable, then pointing both of her hands forward and began firing rubber bullets of her own, aiming for her blonde opponent.

However, as both Widows fired their respected bullets at one another, each bullet merely collided with one another and fell to the floor, and thus, kept firing and firing until finally, they ran out of ammo. With each of their bracelets now empty, the two Widows of their respected teams soon charged towards one another, jumped up and both threw a flying thrust kick, and in the process, managed to kick each other in their cheeks and fall to the floor. Though they were both stunned by at first, they managed to recover quickly enough to roll away from on another, and as they popped back up on their feet, felt blood dropping from their lips and each took a moment to wipe block from their mouths.

Moments later, it was Yelena who continued the fight by running in and throwing a left legged front kick, which unfortunately for her, is blocked by Natasha. However, the blonde Thunderbolt does not let this stop her as she then went for a right jab.

Luckily though, Natasha spotted this and countered it by throwing her left arm to perform an inside block to stop the punch. Afterwards, the red headed Widow responded by turning and throwing a spinning right back-fist.

Yelena showed her quick reflexes by ducking underneath the back-fist, and upon standing straight up, she held up her left arm to block an incoming left hook. The blonde Widow then fought back by using her right hand to throw a quick back-fist, which is stopped when Natasha used her free hand to catch the fist before it could hit her face. Strangely, Yelena didn't seem this, mainly because that last attack was a distraction, all so she could pull her left fist back and throw a middle punch, aiming for Natasha's belt-buckle.

A move in which Natasha anticipated and stopped by using her left hand to grab Yelena by the wrist and stopping the punch. Now in control, the red-headed Widow grabbed Yelow's other wrist, then spread her arms outward and threw a right legged axe kick, nailing Yelena in the chin and released her so she could stagger backward.

Though knocked loopy for a moment, Yelena instinctively rolled backward and upon popping back up on her feet, spat out blood before getting into a fighting stance.

Once she saw Yelena up and waiting for her to make the next move, Natasha obliged and ran towards her, and upon getting close enough, greeted her blonde haired rival with a right legged round kick.

Meanwhile, back in the Garden, both the Avengers and Thunderbolts, as well as the roaring crowd, were watching the action on the screen. But none were more excited than that of Hawkeye, who watched the mach with glee in seeing Natasha handling Yelena with ease. "Yeah, there you go Tasha!" he cried as he saw his partner block a left jab from Yelena and responded with a right uppercut.

Spidey was standing right next to Hawkeye as he rooted for Natasha and though he had no problem with him supporting his former partner, he was still a little nervous with the archer's aggressive competitive nature, and quickly leaned back to avoid getting inadvertently punched in the punched in the face by him as he cheered for the red headed Widow. "Geez, the nervous Web-Head said quietly. "This guy puts all soccer moms to shame."

The Wasp, who was in shrunken form and flying right next Spidey, and let's out an embarrassed sigh in agreement. "You should see him when he watches football games."

Another Avenger paying close attention to the match was that of Iron Man, who at the same time, was speaking to the new A.I. in his helmet in the form the digital consciousness of the fallen synthezoid, the Vision, as well as his other and most trusted artificial intelligence, J.A.R.V.I.S. "How are we coming of those files, boys?"

From inside Iron Man's helmet, J.A.R.V.I.S. is the first to answer the armored billionaire. " _ **Sadly, not so good, sir,"**_ J.A.R.V.I.S. replied, sounding disappointed. _**"It would appear that Mr. Osborn made his firewalls more powerful than originally assumed."**_

All though Iron Man did not like this news, he was still hopeful of his new 'man on the inside', which was Vision. "How about you, Vision? Are you able to work past Osborns firewalls and get what we need?"

 _ **"Well, I'm afraid that the answer to that is, as you humans would put it, yes and no."**_ Vision replied, sounding just as unhappy about the situation. _**"It will take me some time to work past the firewalls protecting Norman Osborn's records, but I am able to get inside S.H.I.E.L.D.'s databanks shut down the booby traps that built into the designated battle stations, even the one in which Ms. Romanov is fighting in."**_

The Shell-Head knew that this was only half of what he wanted, but for the sake of his teammates, as well as Natasha, it was better than nothing. "Well, don't let me stop you, Vision, shut them off!"

 _ **"Right away,"**_ Vision replied, feeling as equally determined to save Natasha as Iron Man was. For he felt it was a way to repay him, as well as the rest of the Avengers, for being his 'family' since leaving Ultron.

Back in Russia, the fight between the two Widows was just heating up, until one moment, Yelena used her left arm to block an incoming right back-fist from Natasha, then counter attacked by shaking in a right handed knife edge chop underneath her red headed enemy's armpit, stunning her and caused her to bend down slightly. Now in control, Yelena wasted no time in taking this opening and thus threw a left legged round kick, nailing Natasha in the face and sending her down to the ring floor hard. With her fallen enemy still in her sights, Yelena stood over Natasha, then brought her left leg straight up in an axe kick position, then drove her foot downward, aiming for her red headed opponent's belt buckle.

Fortunately for Natasha though, she rolled away from Yelena's feet, causing her blonde haired enemy to ram her foot into the floor instead. Once she was at a safe distance, Natasha got back up on her feet, then ran over and went for a right legged round kick.

Yelena, however, saw this and thus leaned back to narrowly avoided the kick. But even after dodging such an attack, she found that she was not quite out of the woods yet. For she later spotted Natasha spinning and throwing a left legged back kicking, aiming for Yelena's belt buckle, causing the Thunderbolt to use both of her hands to catch Natasha's foot to stop the attack.

However, even with her foot caught, Natasha did not stop her assault. For she later used her standing right leg to jump up and deliver a hard round kick to the side of Yelena's head, sending her down to the floor.

Though loopy, Yelena shook her head to regain focus, and noticed what appeared to be a slightly broken tile in the ring just inches away from her. In actuality, however, it was a secretly built-in button devised by S.H.I.E.L.D. engineers would 'accidentally' caused smoke to spew out ring if it was pressed. Similar to that incident that occurred in England during the match-up between the Vision and Surge. Seeing this as a way to regain the upper-hand, Yelena soon put on a performance by screaming, seemingly out of frustration, and thus pounds the broken tile 'in aggravation'. But much to the blonde Widow's surprise...nothing happened. While sitting there stunned as to how this could've happened, especially when Osborn said to her and her teammates that he had 'all the bases covered', she later spotted Natasha running towards her and performed a baseball slide-like kick, causing Yelena to dash to the left side to avoid it.

Back in the states, the Iron Patriot watched this development from the Thunderbolts corner, and though he didn't see this coming, he didn't seemed to be all that surprised or worried, and thus took a brief moment to look at Iron Man from across the platform.

From the Avengers corner, Iron Man noticed the Patriot looking at him and the armored men of their respected teams stared down at one another. _"Sorry, Norman,"_ thought the Shell-Head as he looked at the Patriot. _"But like it or not, the matches in this little game of yours are going to be fair and square."_

The Patriot could only look at Iron Man with somewhat intrigued expression behind his faceplate, as if he was not only impressed by the Shell-Head's hacking abilities, but also interested on how he made the tournament more challenging. _"Well played, Stark...well played."_

Suddenly, the Patriot received an incoming video transmission from Maria Hill inside his helmet, and she looked rather distressed. _**"Sir, we have a problem,"**_ she told him. _**"It seems our computer databases are being compromised. We have our best techs on it, but it appears that..."**_

"That the traps inside the battle-zones are shut down," the Patriot calmly interjected. "Oh well, just a minor setback. Whatever Stark is doing, he won't take control of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s computers thanks to the firewalls I personally designed. But just to be on the safe side, have your technicians do what they must to protect S.H.I.E.L.D.'s datafiles. As far as losing the traps go, it's no major loss. For I prepared my team for such an emergency."

Back in Russia, Yelena was throwing a left legged round kick at Natasha, who avoided it by ducking and passing underneath her blonde counterpart, ending up behind her. Even in that attack missing, however, Yelena kept calm and thus proceeded to go with 'Plan B', something in which the Patriot instructed her, as well as the rest of her fellow Thunderbolts, to do if the traps didn't work. In that she secretly turned a dial in her right bracelet and thus turned, then charged towards Natasha, with her back still turn, and threw a right hook.

Natasha herself looked over her shoulder to spot this, and as she turned, she held up her right hand to easily block it.

However, before her arm could make contact with Natasha's, Yelena quickly closed her eyes. Suddenly, when the blonde Widow's arm finally touched that of her opponent's, a small gust of powder spewed out of her bracelet and into Natasha's eyes, blinding her. As for Yelena herself, she protected her eyesight well enough thanks to closing her eyes beforehand, but for the crowd, she puts on another 'performance' by bending down and holding her hand over her eyes, pretending to be in pain as if the dust hit her as well.

Needles to say, this 'accident' caught the attention of the stunned Russian spectators, including the Ref-Bot, who hovered down towards Yelena to check on her, with the annoucer's worried face appearing on the screen. "Ms. Belova, are you all right?"

"Do I look all right to you?!" Yelena asked in an agitated tone with her eyes still closed to help sell the idea that she was blinded, which for the most part was quite convincing.

As for Natasha, her suffering was quite real, as her eyes felt like they were on fire after being exposed to the powder and knelt down in agony. However, due to her extensive training, she learned to rely on her other four senses, most notably, her hearing. Which proved to be quite useful, for she heard Yelena snapped at the announcer. Now knowing the location of her opponent, Natasha took her left bracelet, aimed at where she heard Yelena voice, and shot a cable, hoping to ensnare her enemy and prevent her from attacking first.

However, Yelena was just as in-tune with her senses at Natasha was and heard the cable coming her way. With a smirk on her face, the blonde Widow ducked to successfully avoid the cable, which in-turn, ended up hitting and cracking the Ref Bot's screen.

As this happened, Natasha's belt buckle soon gave off an electric charge, causing the blinded spy to scream in pain. As if that wasn't bad enough, the buckle cracked on it's own, and the yellow energy soon came out covered the red headed Widow all over, freezing her in place.

Though the Ref Bot's screen was damaged, it still showed a cracked but visible image of what just transpired to viewers around the world, including those back in the stands and more importantly, the Garden. The crowd looked on at Natasha's freezing with utter shock and confusion, but none were more surprised than that of Hawkeye, who looked on at what just happened to his old partner with his eyes open in horror. "TASHA!"

Back in Russia, as the frozen Natasha soon fell to the ring floor, the Ref Bot slowly helped Yelena back to her feet via the thin, collapsible robotic arms, with Yelena herself still pretending to be hurt. Moments later, the announcer's face appeared on the Ref Bot's cracked screen, as he still feel obligated to make this announcement. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm aware that what just happened was...a rather odd accident, Natasha Romanov of the Avengers still hit the Ref Bot, which as established before, is strictly against the rules of the tournament. Therefore, the winner of this match as a result of a disqualification...Yelena Belova!"

As the crowd let out a mixture of cheers and boos, a still 'blinded' Yelena held her hand over her brow...all so she could secretly look down at the fallen Natasha and thought this to herself as she smiled slightly. _"Who's the amateur now?"_

**WINNER: YELENA BELOVA**


	22. Chapter 22

**LAYING THE HAMMER DOWN**

The Thunderbolts' Black Widow, Yelena Belova, arrived before the crowd giving her a mixture of cheers and boos. Also angered by what just transpired were the Avengers themselves, specifically Hawkeye, who at this point is seething as he stared a hole at the smiling Yelena.

Fearing that the enraged archer could snap at anymore, Cap, as well as the equally concerned Spidey and Wasp, coming and try to calm Hawkeye down. "Steady soldier," said Cap. "Remember, we need to keep..."

"I know!" Hawkeye snapped back, then stormed off to be by himself and cool off.

As Spidey watched the fuming archer walked over to a nearby corner, he couldn't help but frown behind his mask. He sympathized with Hawkeye, for he too knew what it was like to lose friends, especially due to heinous plans by thought up by Norman Osborn, with the difference being that he wore the guise of the Green Goblin as oppose to his current one, the Iron Patriot.

Two other Avengers, namely the team's 'co-leaders', Captain American Iron Man, were both saddened by the loss of Natasha, as well as frustrated that the Thunderbolts just cheated they're way to victory once again. "Damn it!" yelled an irritable Iron Man. "I should've known Osborn have something up his sleeve!"

Spidey, feeling just as annoyed at what just transpired, turned and looked at the Patriot, his eyes narrowed in anger behind his bug eyed lenses. "Yeah, he's been known for that."

Cap, though he shared his friend's sentiment, still tried to keep a cool head for the team. "There HAS to be some way we can stop them...or at least catch them in the act. Tony, have you managed to use that suit of yours to get into Osborn's computers?"

Iron Man let out a breath to calm himself before answering his fellow Avenger. "Well, I had Vision turn off the traps, so that should make things a little less difficult as far as the tournament goes. The key word being 'somewhat'."

A saddened Spidey could only nod in agreement to Iron Man's words. "No kidding," said the Wall-Crawler, still looking at the Patriot with bitterness. "Osborn has never been one to make things easy."

Cap sensed and understood the anger in Spidey's voice, and thus placed his hand on the young man's shoulder as he said this to him. "Easy there, son," he told Spidey in a gentle tone, then turned his attention to the rest of the team. "No one said this would be easy, but taking down Osborn and his goons is still something we can accomplish, especially sense they don't have anymore traps to rely on."

Thor decided to aid in boosting the team's morale by speaking up. "The Captain is correct," Avengers!" he said with enthusiasm, as if back in his early days in Asgard, where he once fought with his fellow Asgardians against armies of Frost Giants. "And I shall prove such words are true when I win my match!" The Thunder God's optimistic tone soon turned into a mixture of disappointment and anger as he looked straight ahead to see his opponent, Skurge the Executioner, a man whom last time he was, once fought alongside him in the Negative Zone. "Where my opponent is a man that I must have a few...words with."

Over in the Thunderbolts' corner, Skurge himself is seen popping his knuckles as well as his neck in warming up for his upcoming match against Thor. And though he did not show it, he felt a small ounce of regret in fighting against the Thunder God, especially since the promise he made in helping him save Enchantress from Surtur, the lord of the Fire Dragons. However, it was the seemingly better deal from the Iron Patriot on how to save her that convinced the Executioner to join his team, and thus, reminded the Asgardian Brute of the Earth phrase 'the ends justify the means.'

As for the Iron Patriot himself, he looked up at Skurge with a stern, as well as annoyed expression behind his face plate. For before the tournament, he the Executioner refused to be outfitted with special gadgets that would aid him in winning his match, for as bad as he was, he still felt some sense of honor in his Asgardian heart. Something in which the Patriot found bothersome.

On the stage, the announcer got back to work on keeping the fans attention to the tournament, which some were still sore over the outcome of which of the last match. "All right folks, let's move on to our next match! More accurately, a match-up between Gods! For we have the Avengers' Mighty Thor against the Thunderbolts Skurge the Executioner!"

With Mjolnir in hand, Thor stood ready to partake in yet another battle against the Executioner that stood across from him. Before the Thunder God could head off, the Wasp flew up to him and gave him these encouraging words. "Lay the hammer down on him, big guy!"

"Oh, I intend to, Lady Janet," replied a determined Thor, still staring at who at Skurge and tightening his grip on his hammer.

Cap is the next to provide support to Thor, but this time, to give him caution. "Remember Thor, they may not have no longer have their traps, but it's obvious that these guys will be fighting dirty."

Thor shook his head in disagreement before replying to the Sentinel of Liberty. "Nay, Captain. Skurge will not resort to such cowardly tactics. But you are right in using caution, and in this case, I shall do so," The Thunder God took a moment to turn and face his fellow Avengers one final time before heading off. "Fear not, my friends, for I shall bring us another victory! With that declaration, Thor turned and walked over to the teleportation pad.

As for Spidey, he, like the rest of the Avengers, watched the Thunder God walk off to battle, but secretly worried about him as she thought this. _"I hope you do, big guy, for your sake."_

In the Thunderbolts' corner, Skurge, with his ax in hand, stood ready to battle Thor once more. But before heading off, however, the Patriot took a moment to address the ax wielding Asgardian with his arms crossed and his brow narrowed behind his faceplate. "Try not to screw this up, Skurge," The Patriot told him in a condescending tone, then shifted his attention to his ax. "Especially sense I went though allot of trouble to get that ax of yours back for you."

Skurge, as he usually did, said nothing. He just looked down at the Patriot with an annoyed expression, then walked over to the teleportation pad.

The two Asgardians finally stepped on to their pads, and seconds later, vanished out of sight and towards their unknown destination to begin their godly battle.

Meanwhile, high above the forests of Pikeville, Kentucky, the Hulk soared through the air as she leaped great distances on his journey to confront the man who truly wronged him, Norman Osborn. Suddenly, however, a mysterious pinkish energy beam come out of nowhere, and hit Hulk in his left side, causing the screaming Jade Giant to not fall to the ground below, but send him miles away at great speeds. It is later revealed that the shooter of the blast is that of the skeletal villain known as X-Ray, who is wearing a new, more advanced version of his radiation suit, one that was equipped with built-in rocket boots, giving him flight. Also joining X-Ray was that of his three other teammates of the U-Foes!

VECTOR: The seemingly galaxy composed leader of the team, using his telekinesis to keep him airborne.

VAPOR: The green, gassy formed fem fatale, using her gassy form to take to the air.

And IRON CLAD: The steel skinned hulking brute of the team, who also had the ability to change the density of his own body, and in this case, made his body light enough to hover in the sky.

Seeing his enemy, the Hulk, blasted out of the sky was something that brought a smile on Vector's face. "Nice shooting, X-Ray," said the team's leader. "Not as good as mine, but all and all, not bad. Anyway, let's hurry and finish Hulk off so we can earn what Osborn promised us." With that order, the U-Foes wasted no time in going after the Hulk with the intent of bringing the heroic giant once and for all.


	23. Chapter 23

**32ND** **FINALS: THOR VS. SKURGE THE EXECUTIONER**

The place for the next match in the Contest of Champions tournament this time was not held on land...but rather on the season, more specifically, on a platform the size of a battleship hovering over the Norwegian Sea. Suddenly, two flashes of light appeared out of nowhere and formed into the two participants of the match-up; Thor, the God of Thunder, and Skurge, the mute Executioner.

Thor gripped his hammer, lightening surging through his veins. "Be warned, barbarian," he said angrily, pointing Mjolnir at Skurge. "I know not of the reason why you took Osborn's word over mine, but I will give, nor ask for a quarter in this combat, not that I need to."

Skurge growled and hefted his ax. Though he knew that Thor was the most honorable of all the Asgardians, he still viewed him as a being, in his mind, just as arrogant. So much so, he wanted to make his head clean off his shoulders so that the Enchantress would be his as soon as he found her and free her, but bitterly chose to keep his word to Osborn, in that he needed to beat Thor, but not kill him.

Suddenly, a small compartment open in the middle of the platform, and a Ref Bot, with the announcer's face on the screen, hovered into the view. "All right gentlemen," said the announcer as the Ref Bot floated in between the two men. "I'm sure you are both aware with the rules, as well as not to use your weapons for lethal means. However this time, for this match, we are going to be doing things a little bit differently. For in this match, there are now two ways to win. You can destroy your opponent's belt buckle, of course, or you can knock enemy off the platform and into the sea below. Any questions?"

Neither Thor nor Skurge answered, for they were too busy staring at each other with hellish intent.

All in which left the announcer no choice but to take it as a yes. "All right then, let's keep things clean!" With that said, the Ref Bot floated up into the air to get to a safe distance. "BEGIN!"

Taking the ax in his hand, Skurge wasted no time in charging towards Thor, who at the same time took the same sparking Mjolnir and ran towards the Executioner at ramming speed. Once the two got close enough to each other, they both wound their respected weapons back and both threw a strike, with both the hammer and the ax colliding and causing a massive shockwave that could be heard throughout the whole seas.

While in the air, the Ref Bot activated a small force field projector which protected it from the save, but still nearly got blown away. But nonetheless, it stayed put to continue its duty of viewing the match for the viewers watching worldwide.

Back in the match, Thor took his still charged hammer and went for Skurge's head, knowing that he was strong enough to take the blow, and thus would only stun him long enough to leave him open for a more punishing attack.

However, Skurge saw this, and thus took his ax and performed an inward slash to deflect Thor's hammer attack. Afterwards, he fought back by throwing a left, vertical slash, with the target being the Thunder God's belt buckle.

Luckily for Thor though, he bent down and jumped backward to save his belt buckle from getting sliced in two. He then raised his hammer above his head, concentrated and at that moment, large dark clouds appeared in the sky, as well as the sound of thunder. Moments later, lightning struck and hits Mjolnir, charging it up. "HAVE AT THEE!" yelled the battled readied Thor, then pointed his hammer forward and fired a lightning blast, aiming for Skurge's belt buckle.

Seeing this attack coming his way, Skurge concentrated and caused his ax to literally burn with fire. With his weapon now 'fired up', Skurge threw a right upward slash, hitting and dispersing the lightning blast. The Executioner later went on the offensive by holding his still burning ax over his head then threw a downward slash, which resulting in the ax to hit the floor, and in the process, crated a large wave of fire that was heading straight for the Thunder God himself.

Thor's eyes grew wide with shock at the sight of the fire-wave coming towards him and soon dashed to the left side to avoid it. However, the Asgardian received yet another surprised when Skurge came running in, with great speed for a man his size, and threw an overhead chop. But thanks to years of training and battle experience, Thor anticipated this and with Mjolnir in his right hand, struck Skurge's az out of his hands, causing the Executioner's feared weapon to go flying and stop at the edge of the platform, almost going into the sea. Afterwards, Thor then goes to strike Skurge's face again, but this time, throwing his hammer in a backhand-like motion.

However, Skurge spotted this and thus used his left hand to catch Thor's wrist, stopping the attack. He then squeezed the Asgardian's wrist so hard, that it caused him to scream in pain and force him to drop Mjolnir. With the Thunder God now without his trademark weapon, and more importantly, in his grasp, Skurge wound his right fist back and gave Thor a powerful right hook to the face, knocking him loopy. Keep a good grip on the now limp Thunder God's wrist, Skurge utilized his great strength once more as he lifted Thor up and slammed him into platform chest first like a ragdoll. Upon lifting the dazed Thor up, Skurke caught a glimpse of his opponent's belt buckle, and thus decided to end the match by winding back his right fist and going for a straight punch.

Thor, on the other hand, was quick enough to recover and thus took both of his feet and gave Skurge a powerful double legged mule kick to his chest, forcing the Executioner to release his grip and stagger backward a few steps. As he landed safely in a couching position, Thor saw that Skurge was still standing, and though he Mjolnir was nearby and could easily mentally summon it to win this fight, especially since Skurge was now without his ax, both his sense of honor and Asgardian pride prevented him from doing so, and instead, the Thunder God chose to charge towards Skurge head on and engage him in hand-to-hand combat.

A recovering Skurge spotted Thor coming his way, as well as throwing a right jab, and thus he held up his right hand to block and push Thor's fist outward. He later attempt to counter attack by throwing a left hook.

Luckily for Thor though, he spotted this quickly and ducked underneath the punch to avoid it. While bent down, Thor made his move by throwing a left uppercut underneath Skurge's exposed armpit, causing the Executioner enough pain to bend down to the left slightly. Seeing this as another opportunity, Thor pulled his left fist back and gave Skurge an uppercut, forcing him to stand straight back up in a daze. The Thunder God then tried to end the match by throwing a right middle punch at Skurge's buckle.

Skurge, on the other hand, quickly recovered and saw this attack coming, and thus threw his right arm downward to successfully block Thor's punch and pushed it outward to make room for a left uppercut, which connected to Thor's jaw. With the Thunder God disoriented, Skurge went for a victory blow and threw left legged front kick, with Thor's belt buckle in his sights.

Luckily for Thor, though, he recovered just in to to see the kick and stopped it by using both of his hands to catch Skurge's foot. Then, with all of his might, Thor spun the Executioner around at such incredible speeds and released him, sending him flying across the platform and hoping to throw him off the platform and into the sea, thus winning by ring out.

Miraculously, Skurge recovered by flipping backward so he can be facing forward, then raised his right hand and rammed his fingertips into the platform, which slowly stopped him while leaving deep fingernail marks into the sleek steel surface. Then, as Skurge finally came to a completely stop just inches away from the edge, he saw through the corner of his right eye to see that he was right next to his ax. Without wasting another moment, Skurge picked up his weapon, got up and charged towards Thor, with his ax raised over his head.

As for Thor, he pointed his open right palm to where he dropped his hammer, concentrated and mentally summoned it, causing it to fly from where it was sitting and into the Thunder God's open hand. With Mjolnir back in his possession, Thor charged towards Skurge, and just as the Executioner swung his ax, Thor threw a hammer strike which not only blocked the slash, but also caused a loud, thunderous bang with the two weapons collided, one that echoed through the entire ocean.

Back in the Garden, everyone inside the stadium watched Thor and Skurge's match with pure excitement, all cheering as they watched the two powerhouses from Asgard battled it the Avengers, they looked worried at first, but soon cheered when Thor used his hammer to parry a right downward slash from Skurge, then responded with a left front kick to his abdomen. The most verbal out of the Avengers was that of the Wasp, who made her joying seeing Thor gaining the upper hand well known. "YEAH! THAT'S IT, THOR!"

The next to cheer the Thunder God on was Spidey, who held up both of his arms in happiness upon seeing Thor gain the advantage. "OH YEAH! IT'S HAMMER TIME!" he exclaimed, while also realizing how dated that phrase sounded, and how it earned him awkward stares from his teammates. "Okay, I admit that was corny, but you all get my point!"

Hawkeye was just about to say something demeaning to the embarrassed Web-Head, but looked through the corner of his eye to see Thor throw his hammer in a backhand motion and nailing Skurge in the face, causing him to refocus on the match. "That we do, bug boy," he said with a smirk. "Doesn't mean what you said any less geeky though."

Spidey disguised his embarrassment to Hawkeye's remark with a sheepish laugh. "Point taken," he replied, then looked back up at the scree to see Thor standing over Skurge, who by this time was down on one knee. _"But still, this is the best thing any of us have had all day,"_ thought the Web-Head, and moments later, his joy turned to worry when he took his attention off of the screen and straight forward at the Thunderbolts themselves, who were all angry at seeing Skurge down and yelling at him to get up, all except for the Patriot, who watched the fight with a calm demeanor and with both of his arms crossed. _"Especially since bad jokes are the least of our worries right now."_

In the Thunderbolts corner, the Patriot watched closely at the match as his teammates continued to scream and curse at Skurge for losing. Even when they see the Executioner recover and use his ax to block Thor's next hammer strike, something in which caused the Thunderbolts to now cheer enthusiastically, the Patriot was still stone faced behind his faceplate. The fact that Skurge would reject Osborn's extra gadgets to win the match in favor of his own ax, and for that matter, his own Asgardian pride, caused the Patriot nothing but aggravation. True, he went through the trouble of having S.H.I.E.L.D. agents sneak into the Avengers mansion and retrieve the ax from their trophy room, the armored leader of the Thunderbolts still felt that a warrior's code of honor was no substitute for a 'Plan B'. As such, whether Skurge won the match or not was of no consequence to the Patriot, for he felt that the Executioner would be a liability for his plans in the future and would eventually have to deal with him once the time was right.

Meanwhile, back in the Norwegian Sea, both Thor and Skurge both go for a strike with their respected weapons, and in the process, they collided one more, and this time, resulting in another sonic boom and having both warriors of Asgard to now be in a deadlock, wrestling for control. As he pushed forward with Mjolnir to try and overpower Skurge, Thor looked deep and hard into the Executioners eyes with both anger and disappointment. "How I pity you, barbarian," said the Thunder God. "Surely, you know that vile villains like Osborn cannot be trusted! Yet you still chose to believe him when I already gave you my word in helping you find Amora!"

Hearing thor mention his beloved mistress's name is more than enough to cause great anger within Skurge, so much so, that the mute Executioner pulled his head back and delivered a massive head-butt to Thor's face, knocking him senseless. With the dazed Thunder God now wide open, Skurge took advantage of this by striking with the bottom of the halve of his ax, nailing Thor in the jaw and sending him down hard on to the platform and on his back. Now with the upper-hand, Skurge raised his awe over his head, channeled his willpower into the ax head, causing it to burn with fire once more, and threw a downward slash, with the intent of slicing Thor's belt-buckle in two!

Fortunately for Thor though, he spotted this attack coming and thus rolled to the right side, causing Skurge to dive his fiery ax into the platform instead.

Upon popping back up, Thor saw Skurge quickly pull out his ax then go for another right sided slash, which prompted the Prince of Asgard to hold Mjolnir outward and block the slash, all the while staring a hole into his mute opponent once more. "It seems that becoming Osborn's minion has made you forgot who you were dealing with!" Thor said with disgust in his voice, which was then followed by sounds of loud thunder and the skies darkening. "Now, I shall remind you that you face the God of Thunder!"

At this point, Skurge's eyes grew wide with shock, and even a little bit of fright, which caused him desperately pull his ax back and go for another overhead slash.

Thor, however, countered this by throwing a right hammer strike and knocked the ax right out of Skurge's hand before the edge of the ax could even touch his face. Then, he counter attacked by throwing an upward backhanded hammer strike, nailing Skurge in the chin and sending him up high into the air. With his enemy airborne, Thor twirled his hammer and threw it upward while still holding on to the strap, which sent him up into the air and after Skurge. Once in the dark clouded sky, the battle hardened Thunder God raised Mjolnir over his head, allowed lightning strike it and once it was full charged, he held his hammer in front of his being and shot a lightning blast, which ended up hitting and destroying Skurge's belt buckle, as well as sending him downward and splashing into the sea below.

After defeating his foe, Thor floated back down the platform, which in the process, caused the clouds to disperse, and cleared the skies, allowing the sun to shine down on the Norwegian Sea once more.

Moments later, the Ref Bot soon hovered down to the victorious Thunder God, and in turn, activated the screen showing the announcer's face. "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! HERE IS YOUR WINNER! THE GOD OF THUNDER HIMSELF, THOR!"

Thor could hear the reaction from the crowd in Madison Square Garden from the Ref Bot's speakers, and though he would normally welcome the cheers of the roaring public after achieving a hard fought victory, he couldn't help but be focused on Skurge, who by this time was not only frozen via yellow energy, but being carried out of the water by two smaller hovering droids. A sight in which disappointed and saddened Thor even more. _"He may be my enemy,"_ thought the Thunder God. _"But I still gave him my word of honor."_ Soon, Thor's disappointment turned to anger as he silently made this vow while gripping tightly on the base of his hammer, which now caused streaks of electricity to course through it. _"And for robbing me of that opportunity to make good on my word to a fellow warrior, Osborn, you shall face the wrath of Thor!"_

**WINNER: THOR**


	24. Chapter 24

**ISLAND OF CHAOS**

At the Bikini Atoll, a place that was heavily demolished due to nuclear testing, all seemed relatively quietly. This is, until the green frame of the Hulk is seen falling from the sky like a comet and ended up crashing into Bikini Island, causing a huge cloud of sand to go flying everywhere upon making impact. As the Hulk shook his head to try and recover, he looked up and saw the individuals that put him here. It was that of the team of four that often caused him more problems than the Leader or General Ross...the U-Foes. And just as he did with any of his enemies, the Jade Giant growled at them with anger.

The U-Foes, however, are not the least bit intimidated by the now seething Hulk. Especially Vector, who crossed his arms and looked just as smug as ever. "Now Hulk, why so glum?" Vector asked sarcastically, as he secretly used his telekinesis to quietly lift up a piece of a wreaked jeep located within the bushes not far from the beach. "We figured you would appreciate being brought to such a beautiful place," Suddenly, Vector commanded the floating jeep to zoom in and literally crash into the Hulk, which stunned the Green Goliath enough to bring him down to one knee, and giving Ironclad to opening he needed to run in and give Hulk a hard uppercut, sending him a few feet into the air crashing hard into the beach once more. "Well, formally beautiful anyway," Vector continued as he, as well Vapor and X-Ray hovered towards the fallen Hulk. "Until it was destroyed by nuclear testing and ravaged by radiation. But hey, when you look at it like that, it seems like a fitting place to put a gamma fueled monster like you down for good."

As Hulk tried to get up, he saw Ironclad pulling his left fist back and attempts to punch him while he was still down. Thus the Jack Giant fought back by using his left hand to catch the steel fist and successfully stop the punch. As Hulk pushed Iron Clad back to stand up, he tightly clinched his giant green fist and delivered a right hook to Ironclad's right cheek, sending the metal based U-Foe flying three feet and crashing down into the sand as he did.

Vector, on the other hand, just stood there with his arms crossed and shook his head in annoyance on how Ironclad was taken down so easily. "More brawn than brains as usual," he muttered, then looked up at the fuming Hulk. "And you, still sore? Geez, I guess there's no pleasing some people."

One of the U-Foes, Vapor, looked at the Hulk with a sly smile. "Maybe I can change his attitude," she remarked, then quickly flew over and rapped her ghostly being around the Hulk, until stopped to face him. "How about a kiss, big guy?" At that moment, the gassy U-Foe actually kissed Hulk right on the lips, and in the process, her ghostly body entered his body through his mouth, and seconds later, she began to squeeze his heart, causing the Hulk to clinch his chest and gasp for air.

Needless to say, this brought a smile to Vector's face as he watched the suffering Hulk be brought to his knees. "Ah, Vapor sure does know how to get to a man's heart, doesn't she?"

Seeing the Hulk in a defenseless state, X-Ray fires a blast which hits the Hulk in the face, forcing him down to the ground. With his face burning from X-Ray's blast and Vapor squeezing his heart like a stress ball within his chest, the pain stricken Hulk did not anticipate Vector using his telekinesis to lift him up a few inches of the ground.

For Vector, picking up someone as massive as the Hulk was like picking up a train, something which caused the U-Foe's leader a tremendous headache. But despite the throbbing pain, Vector held the Jade Giant up long enough for Ironclad to run in and give the Hulk a hard left hook, sending the incapacitated Green Goliath flying, then plow threw a few trees and crashing into an old abandoned building, causing the structure to fall on top of him.

One ould think that a building falling on top of him, as well as a gas composed woman literally crushing his heart from the inside, would be more than enough to kill any normal person. But Hulk was nowhere near normal, for he managed to rise from out of the rubble, but goes back down on one knee and fighting to breathe, curtesy of Vapor. To make matters worse, Ironclad comes falling from up high in the sky and plants both of his feet on top of Hulk's shoulders, pinning him chest first into the rubble.

It wasn't long before both Vector and X-Ray came into the scene, looking down at the fallen Hulk. "Well, I got to admit, I was expecting more of a challenge, Hulk," said Vector in his usual cocky tone, enjoying seeing the weakened Jade Giant being pummeled. "Oh well, job is still a job. And by killing you, we can show the world, especially Osborn, that the U-Foe's are now the strongest force on Earth!"

Suddenly, hearing Vector's arrogant statement caused a storm of fury to ensue within the Hulk, so much so, that his eyes began to glow a gamma fueled green. And, despite Vapor killing him from the inside and Ironclad pinning him down, Hulk appeared to be trying to say something. "H...H...H..."

For Vector, seeing Hulk trying to recover did not sit well with him, and like his teammates, was caught by surprise by the green powerhouse's resolve. "What?"

"H...HULK...IS STRONGEST THERE IS!" screamed the now enraged Hulk as he finally mustered up enough strength to stand up and push Ironclad off of him. Furthermore, as the Jade Giant screamed, he also was able to force Vapor out of his body, which in turn, caused her to fade into nothing.

Both Vector and X-Ray were horrified to see the Hulk recover, and quickly acted with X-Ray charging up his fists to fire another blast and Vector telekinetically lifting an old but large oil tank to throw at the Green Goliath.

The furious Hulk spotted this , and thus lifted his open hands up and clapped his massive palms together, thus creating a huge sonic boom that knocked Vector and X-Ray off of their feet and on to the ground outcold. This left only one U=Foe left, and Hulk turned and spotted Ironclad fully recovered and charging towards him at full force. As such, he waited for the giant U-Foe to get close enough, and once he did, he through a hard right uppercut, nailing the steel skinned brute in the and sent him flying into the air and off the island. With the U-Foes now dealt with, the Hulk took a moment to slowly breathe in and out in an effort to calm himself. "Still nothing but a bunch of wimps," said the Green Goliath. "Ones that even Grimm and his Fantastic Four buddies can handle." The now victorious Hulk turned around to face the ocean, then leaped into the air and splashed into the water, where he began to swim away from the island. It was a task he had no problem with, seeing is how there have been instances where he has swam from one island to the next a few times, all without tiring. And in this instance, he now swam to his next destination, back to the United States, all so he could continue his search for Norman Osborn.


	25. Chapter 25

**32ND FINALS: QUAKE VS. IRON PATRIOT**

Back in Madison Square Garden, the competition, if not 'secret war' between the Avengers and Thunderbolts continued to intensify, and the crowd grew more and more excited with anticipation for the next match. Something in which the announcer took full advantage of when he took center stage once more. "All right folks, whose ready for some more super power action?!" he asked the crowd, and received a huge roaring ovation as an answer. "All right then, let's keep things moving along with our next match-up! In which we have the Avengers 'groundbreaking' heroine Quake, going up against the Thunderbolts armored leader, the Iron Patriot!"

As the crowd cheering so loud it almost the entire stadium to shake, the two fighters of their respected teams warmed up for their match. For the Avengers, Quake is sen performing a few stretches, knowing that since she was going up the opposing team's leader, she not doubt had a fight on her hands.

Hawkeye only knew Quake for only a brief amount of time, but he there was still a small part of him that still had some pride in S.H.I.E.L.D. and thus decided to tell her his as he would tell any other agent about to go on a mission, including the recently captured Natasha. "Watch your back, Johnson."

Quake, upon hearing the archer's voice, looked over her shoulder to answer him. She remembered hearing that while he was short tempered and was not the world's greatest listener, he was still dedicated and possessed a heart of gold. All in which made her give the arrow shooting former agent a small smile. "Wouldn't be much of an S.H.I.E.L.D. agent if I didn't, Burton."

The next to speak up is Cap, who is still in his usual calm but still concerned demeanor. "I'm afraid Hawkeye has a point there, Quake," said the Super Soldier. "Tony may have defused Osborn's traps, but he, as well as the rest of his band of goons, are far from predicable. Which means that their still dangerous."

When it came to addressing Cap, one of the few men, besides Nick Fury, that she respected, Quake's small smile soon disappeared and her happy expression transformed into a more serious one. "Don't worry Captain, like all government agents, I've been trained to never underestimate the enemy," she later turned her attention to the Patriot, who by this time had holographic screens being projected from the chestplate of his armor for the reason of running a diagnostic on his suit before proceeding with the match. "Including people like that psychopath over there!"

Also staring at the Patriot was that of Spidey, who clinched his fist in anger and using all his willpower not to run over and tackle his old foe for all the pain and suffering he was causing not just him and his team, but for Harry for giving him that suit and Gwen, who was now a hostage. _"When it comes to Gobby, I hope you are."_

Meanwhile, in the Thunderbolts' corner, the Patriot saw on the holoscreens that everything in the suit was in order, and thus mentally deactivated the screens via his helmet so he can be on his way. "All right then, let's get this show on the road."

One of the Thunderbolts, Citizen V, seemed to look at the Patriot with a somewhat skeptic posture. "I hope you realize that you are up against an S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Osborn," said Citizen V with a condescending tone. "Not a threat for someone like me, but might be more a challenge to someone like you, whose main rivals have been either other businesses or teenagers running around in a Halloween costume."

Citizen V's worlds obviously did not sit well with the Patriot, but none more so than the Scarlet Spider, who angrily walked up to the masked swordsman, and his suit beginning o have a small tentacles grow as a response to his stress rising. "For you information, my father has been known to eat people like you for breakfast! So I'd show him respect if I were you!"

Patriot saw his son's suit beginning acting hostile due to his son's ill temper, and thus decided to step in before the symbiote took full control and created a embarrassing situation for him. "Easy son," he told the Spider in a more calming tone, which seemed to be succeeding he saw the tentacles retract back into the suit. "Besides, if Citizen V, or anyone else here, have doubts about my leadership and status, then I'll prove it by making an example out of that runaway agent over there."

Citizen V could only give the Patriot a smug smile behind his mask as he gave his armored teammate this reply. "Good luck."

The Patriot did not even bother to dignify his fellow Thunderbolt's remark with an answer, and thus turned around an walked over to the teleportation pad, where Quake is seen standing on the other one. Once both combatants were on the pads, they started to glow and were soon traported to another part of the world to begin their battle.

As Iron Man watched both Quake and the Patriot vanish out of sight, the Shellhead suddenly felt something small cling and stick to his left gauntlet. Something small, like a peanut attached to silly puddy. As he looked down at his left hand, he saw that it was a small circular object with the S.H.I.E.L.D. symbol on it, causing the Shellhead to smile behind his faceplate, for he knew where it came from. "Right on time, Fury," he said quietly, then turned his attention to Spidey, who at this point went back to looking worried for Gwen Stacy, still being watched over by Victoria Hand. "Hey kid!"

Hearing Iron Man address him was enough to shock Spidey back from the worried state that he was in and quickly turned to face his armored idol with a nervous demeanor. "Uh, y-yes, Mr. Stark?"

Before taking to the stunned Web-Head, Iron Man took this moment to shake his head, once again annoyed with someone addressing him by the, in his mind, dreaded title: 'Mr. Stark'. "When this is all over with, I'm need to try and break you out of that habit," he told the still wide-eyed Web-Slinger. "But listen, how would you feel if I told you that I have a plan to save your blonde haired friend over there, and that you'r a big part of it?

This was the news that brought Spidey true, real relief for the first time in hours. And after the hopeful Spidey took one last look at Gwen, he turned back to Iron Man with a more determined expression. "I'd say what do I have to do?"

Meanwhile, in the deserts of Southern Nevada, there stood a gateway saying 'Authorized Personnel Only' which belonged to the widely known Air Force Base known as Area 51. Suddenly, two flashes of light sparked before the gate and shown to be the newly arrived Quake and Iron Patriot.

After the two fighters arrived, a Ref Bot soon shot over the gate and arrived right in between the two combatants. "Now then," said the cautious announcer. "Are you both ready?"

While Quake nodded her head in compliance, the Patriot however seemed to be preoccupied in pressing the buttons inside his gauntlets. "Of course," he told the announcer calmly, as well as coldly, without even looking at him. "I've just recalibrated the settings in my armor to a safer setting, so I assure you and the rest of the world that I have full intentions of winning this match without causing serious harm to my opponent."

Quake, on the other hand, did not look so convinced at the Patriot's 'reassurance' and thus continued to look at him with disdain. _"Yeah, I'll bet."_

After receiving his answers, the announcer mentally commanded the Ref Bot to fly up into the air to give the Patriot and Quake the room needed to fight. "Well then, let's not waste any more time! BEGIN!"

With the word given, the Patriot is quick to attack first as he pointed both of his open hands out at Quake and fired two repulser blasts, with her belt buckle being the target.

Fortunately for Quake though, she saw this attack coming and saved herself by dashing and rolling to the right side, narrowly dodging the blasts. Once she stopped in a kneeling position, she responded by channeling her willpower into her hands and admitted large energy waves at the Patriot, with the intention of shaking him so badly, his armor, as well as the buckle built into it, would fall apart.

The Patriot, on the other hand, saw this and proved to be just as ready to avoid attacks by powering up his jet boots and taking to the sky in order to dodge the waves. As he hovered in the air, the Patriot looked down at Quake with an unimpressed expression behind his faceplate. "Yes,, I've done my research on you, Agent Johnson," he told her snidely as he pointed both of his open palms down at her. "So if you want to beat mean, you'll have to do better than that!" With that said, the Patriot fired two repulser blasts at the battled tested Quake below.

Luckily for Quake though, she was wise not to let herself be a target for long as she stopped her waves then back-flipped and successfully dodged the blasts. After landing on her feet, Quake looked back up at the hovering Patriot with a look of disgust. "Ask and you shall receive!" she told him in defiance, then right her right hand, she concentrated and tried a new attack maneuver that she had be working on for quite some time and had been meaning to give it a try. In that she admitted enough force to where she felt that her hand and the ground beneath her were one in the same, then threw her hand up, and in the process, attracted what appeared to be twenty to thirty chunks of hand sized rocks from the ground, causing them to fly into the air and straight towards the Patriot himself.

The Patriot, however, utilized the built-in mental receptive circuitry inside his helmet to mentally activate a force-field to surround his entire person, which in turn caused the rocks to burst upon making contact, but in the process, causing the dirt and dust to build up and create a small cloud to block his sight.

With the armored leader of the Thunderbolts now blinded, thanks to the cloud, Quake channeled her energy in both of her hands, bent down and placed the on the ground and by her feet. Through much concentration, and being one with the earth once more, she raised her hands upward, and in turn, caused a tall, tower-like boulder to rise from the ground beneath her and rise up into the air just above the Patriot.

As for the Patriot himself, he waited for the rocks to stop hitting his force-field and once they did, he deactivated is energy based barrier and held out both of his hands where he later fired two repulser blast which not only dissipated the fog, but also hits and destroyed the bolder which Quake had made, something that left the armored Thunderbolt dumbfounded. "What?! How did that...?" As the Patriot looked around, he then looked up and saw what made his eyes grow wide with shock.

And what the Patriot saw was Quake herself falling down towards him, and just before he could get a chance to blast her out of the sky, she latched on to the Thunderbolt by grabbing hold of his left shoulder pad with her left hand, then pulled her right fist back and channeled energy into it. As her clinched right fist began vibrating, the battle hardened agent gave the Patriot a right hook to his faceplate, one which was powerful enough to knock him loopy, even with the helmet's protection.

Thus disoriented, the Patriot began to fall from the sky, with Quake still holding and soon plummeted to the ground hard, causing another cloud of dirt and dust to appear on impact. Now with the upper hand, Quake sat and pinned down the dazed Patriot, then looked down to see the Thunderbolt's buckle, which prompted her to point her left palm at it, intending to project another wave blast to destroy the buckle and win the match.

However, the fallen Patriot had one other attribute besides his armor to get him out of his predicament, the Greene that was still flowing in his system, and thus it helped him recover from his dazed state rather quickly. Afterwards, he noticed Quake on top of him and was just about to fire her wave blast, thus prompting him to grab her left wrist and pushed it outward. The Patriot then counterattacked by mentally commanding his armor to activate the built-in blast which was located in the star symbol on his chest-plate.

Now seeing that she was in trouble, Quake quickly jumped backward and off of the Patriot just as he fired an energy beam form out of his chest-plate and into the sky above. After distancing herself from her fallen opponent, Quake soon got into fighting stance as she watched the Patriot use small thrusters built into his back that hovered him off the ground and back on his feet. It was heard that Quake pointed her hands down, admitted waves at the ground, then trusted her arms forward to create a 'ground wave' at the newly recovered leader of the Thunderbolts.

Seeing this attack coming, the Patriot used his jet boots to dash over to the left side to avoid the way, then fired a repulser blast out of his left hand at Quake while she appeared to leave herself open for attack.

Fortunately for Quake though, she spotted this attack coming through the corner of her eye, and thus pointed her still charged hands downward and right in front of her, and as she pulled them up, she created a solid rocky wall to act as a shield. It wasn't long before the blast hit the wall, and while it did it's job in protecting Quake, it caused the wall to shatter and with enough force to send Quake flying a few feet then land hard on her back. As she laid there, grunting in pain and with the sun beaming down her face, Quake received another surprise when she noticed a shadow looming over her and as she looked up, she saw that it was the Patriot coming down at her with his right fist cocked back. Once she realized she was in danger, the veteran S.H.I.E.L.D. agent quickly rolled to the right side and successfully avoided get pummeled into the ground by Patriot, who in turn ended up punching the ground and making a small crater in the ground upon landing.

The Patriot growled in aggravation after missing Quake, and as he stood up and saw Quake herself back up on her feet and charging her hands, he soon held up both of his hands, ready to fire repulser blasts at the agent, aiming for her belt buckle so he can get this match over with.

Meanwhile, back in the Garden, the Avengers watched the match intently, and all grew worried as their teammate Quake and the Patriot now appeared to be at a stalemate. But none more so than Cap, for as he appeared to be watching the match calmly, he was secretly concerned with how the Patriot was giving her so much difficulty. _"Keep you're guard up, soldier."_

As the rest of the Avengers, not to mention the crowd and the Thunderbolts, kept their eyes glued to the large screen, Iron Man secretly made his way towards Spidey and Wasp and presented them with the small disc-like object that was latched on to him. "Well, since everybody's too focused on the match, I guess now is as good as time as any to get you two started on that rescue mission."

Spidey answered by giving Iron Man a nod of acknowledgement, while a confused Wasp looked at the Shellhead with no clue as to what he was referring to. "Rescue mission?"

Back in Nevada, both Quake and the Patriot still stood while still holding up their arms, each waiting for one another to make the first move. But finally, it is the Patriot who continued the match by firing two repulser blast at the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.

Luckily for Quake though, she was to avoid the attack by leaning all the way back, allowing the blasts to pass right above her. As she popped back up on her feet, she spotted the Patriot dashing towards her and throwing a left hook. Thus to save herself, Quake channeled her energy into her left fist, and once it began vibrating, she held it up to successfully block the incoming blow. Afterwards, she attempted to fight back by repeating the vibrating effect on her right fist and went for a right uppercut.

The Patriot, on the other hand, took a step back to avoid the punch, then spotted Quake going for a spinning left back-fist and thus counted by holding up his right gauntlet and mentally commanded a small hand sized energy shield around his right arm and blocked Quake's vibrating back-fist.

Even with her attack stopped, Quake did not want to give the Patriot an opening to take her down, and soon responded with a left sidekick to his face-plate, forcing him to stagger back three feet. With the Patriot in a daze, Quake dashed forward and threw a left handed middle punch, aiming for the Patriot's buckle.

Unfortunately, the Patriot recovered quick enough to see this attack coming his way, and thus threw his left palm downward to block it. Moments later, he saw Quake pull her left hand away, only so she could throw a right roundhouse kick, prompting him to use his right hand to catch her foot by the ankle and push her away.

After staggering backward, Quake turned and just barely landing on her feet with her back turned on the Patriot. But even in after having her two attacks deflected, the S.H.I.E.L.D. still refused to give up on her assault. As such, once she heard the thrusters in Patriot's armor kick on, and the Partiot himself flew up and landed right behind her, Quake decided to catch him off guard by channeling her energy into her feet, then jumped up and flipped forward, using both of her feet to kick the Patriot in the chin so hard, it caused his faceplate to pop up and reveal the face of Norman Osborn. Once she landed on her feet, Quake turned to see Norman's face exposed, then charged it and delivered a hard right left jab to his mouth, which successfully knocked him down to the ground. Now in full control of the match, Quake took a moment to pop her knuckles after delivering such a hard blow, all the while, looking down at Norman, who's mouth was now bleeding, in pure disgust. "So much for the all scary 'Green Goblin,'" she told him bitterly as she pointed her left hand at his exposed buckle. "Even with all that armor, you can't even take on one S.H.I.E.L.D., much less a team of heroes!"

Before answering, Norman took a moment to spit out blood. "Maybe," he told her calmly, not showing the slightest bit of nervousness, even though he was seemingly at a disadvantage.

Little did Quake know, however, that when her right roundhouse kick was blocked, the Patriot secretly placed a small circular device on her ankle, and just as she charged up her energy to fire more energy waves, the device powered on and actually drove the waves back into Quake's body, causing her to shake violently and scream in pain as she dropped to her knees.

As for Norman, he only smirked confidently as he pulled his face-plate back down and completed his Iron Patriot guise once more. "But like a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, I know how to be sneaky," Now with a full advantage, the Patriot stood back up, walked over to the now disoriented Quake then used his left hand to grab her by her left shoulder and picked her up off the ground. "What Fury saw in you, I'll never know," he told her with contempt, then allowed and evil smile spread across his lips and behind his faceplate. "But I do know that he'll see me do this!" The Patriot then took his right fist and through a straight jab into Quake's belt buck, then dropped her to the ground as the yellow energy consumed her body and froze her completely.

Once the Ref Bot saw Quake hit the ground, it flew down and hovered right next to the now victorious Patriot, and faced him so the people watching around the world could see him. "Here is your winner," said the announcer's voice via the intercom system. "The Iron Patriot!"

The Patriot himself placed his hands on his hips and gave the Ref Bot, and thus the people in the Garden and all around the globe, a friendly nod to help sell his 'hero bit.' Moments later, he took a moment to look down at the frozen and defeated Quake. _"Don't worry, dear,"_ he thought. _"When_ _this is all over, I'll see to it that you're converted like the rest of your fellow agents, and thus make you perform much better than you did today! And after I make all of S.H.I.E.L.D more obedient, I'll move on to the Avengers, and any other hero in this country, all so they can help me put this country, this whole world, where it needs to be in order to make it better...under my thumb!"_

**WINNER: THE IRON PATRIOT**


	26. Chapter 26

**D.A.D.**

Inside the sports box, Victoria is seen talking to what appeared to be a waitress, while Gwen was too preoccupied looking down at the platform below, and more specifically, the Scarlet Spider, the aggressive alter ego of her boyfriend, Harry Osborn. Ever sense she saw Harry with the suit, Gwen grew more and more concerned about him, watching him become more aggressive and irritable, like a steriod consumed bodybuilder on the verge of going into roid rage. At first, she feared that he might be taking the Greene again, but then remembered seeing all those times during Harry's match when the suit moved, she began to wonder if that it was that suit that was fueling his anger and making him a bit unstable. As Gwen contemplated more and more on Harry's suit, she looked down in the crowd and spotted Peter, who at this point looked to be snapping pictures at the 'grand event' that was the Contest of Champions tournament. Upon getting her sights on him, Gwen couldn't help but feel her heart break little by little, even now of all times. For there he was, the boy she truly loved for years, and almost had the chance to finally embrace him in her arms and be with him at long last, but through sad circumstances, he was now further beyond her reach.

Victoria, after telling the waitress her order, which was a diet soda, turned to Gwen to ask if she wanted anything and noticed her spaced out and looking out at the crowd, as opposed to the platform, where both teams were waiting for the Iron Patriot to return. "Gwen, do you want anything?"

"Huh?" said Gwen, after being brought back to reality by hearing Victoria's voice and turned to her. "Oh, uh...no thanks, I'm fine."

Though Victoria was a bit suspicious of Gwen's odd behavior, but nevertheless gave her a nod and small smile, then turned to face the waitress and dismissed her.

As for Gwen, just quietly sat there and waited for an opportunity to present itself so she can escape. But under the eye of someone as Victoria's caliber, it seemed impossible

Meanwhile, back on the platform, a flash of light occurred and formed into the returning, as well as victorious Iron Patriot, something in which made the Thunderbolt fans to cheer and the Avengers fans to boo. Once he stepped off the teleporter, he briefly turned to the remaining Avengers with a small smirk behind his faceplate. _"Five down, seven to go,"_ he thought to himself, then proceeded his way back to the Thunderbolts corner.

Elsewhere, inside the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helocarrier, Quake is laying unconscious on a sleeping post inside one of the holding cells. Moments later, she slowly began to stir, and once she came to, she looked around her surroundings, soon realized who put her there. _"Osborn,"_ she thought with pure disdain. _"That damn cheating coward!"_ As she looked through the electric door of her cell, she found not only her comrades that also lost their matches such as Ant-Man, Yellowjacket, Black Panther and Black Widow, but was also surprised to see the defeated Thunderbolts such as Two-Gun Kid, Magus and Batroc. In the hall, Quake also saw two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents guarding the prisoners who were also watching the tournament on a wall mounted TV, all which let her to let out a worried sigh. _"I guess it's up to Cap and the others now. I just hope whoever fights Osborn next has better luck than I did."_

Back in the Garden, the Patriot was already with his fellow Thunderbolts, where the only one to show any enthusiasm for his victory was that of the Scarlet Spider, who walked to his armored father to congratulate him, in another attempt to seek his approval. "All right, Dad," he said to him. "Way to show why you lead this time!"

"Of course," the Patriot told his son in his usual unemotional tone, then turned his attention to Citizen V. "And I'm hoping that a certain partner of mine was watching and now knows that I am not to be taken lightly."

Citizen V could only chuckle in response. "Your performance was...not bad, Norman. Not bad at all. But when my match comes next, I will show you how a REAL leader fights his battles."

As the Scarlet Spider growled in anger, which caused his suit to make his muscles bigger as a result, the Patriot placed a hand on his angry son's shoulder, instantly calming him down. "We'll see, V," the Patriot told his sword-wielding comrade. "We'll see."

Over in the Avengers corner, the team is incredibly angry that they just lost another one of their own. Especially Cap, for even though he didn't show it, he always took loss of comrades pretty hard, especially in his World War II days.

And it's hear that a fuming Hawkeye made his thoughts known. "Damn it! Osborn screwed us again!"

Though Cap shared Hawkeye's frustration, he still walked over to him to try and reason with him, which was normally an almost impossible effort when it came to the impossible archer. "Easy, Clint! Don't let that ruthless punk get to you and give him the satisfaction!"

Ms. Marvel heard Cap's words, and thus decided to help strengthen the by walking over to Hawkeye and take part in talking him down. "Clint, Cap's right," she told the archer. "If we go ballistic, we're letting Osborn win in more ways than one. Keep you're cool."

Though still fuming, Hawkeye knew that deep down, both Ms. Marvel and Cap were right, and thus let out a long sigh of reluctance. "Fine."

Ms. Marvel was relieved that she and Cap were able to calm Hawkeye down a prevented him from doing something stupid like shooting an arrow at Osborn or any of his teammates. Moments later, however, the Warbird noticed that the Wasp and Spidey appeared to be all too focused at the screen, which was unusual, seeing is how they've been a little chatty until now. As such, this caused the concerned Ms. Marvel to walk up to her size-changing friend. "Uh, Jan, you plan on being Ms. 'Cheery Optimist' as you usually do?"

Suddenly, Iron Man appeared to be surprised to hear Ms. Marvel's question to the Wasp, and thus spoke up. "I'm sure she would, Carol," said the Shellhead. "Sue's just...as trying to stay focus and keep her head in the game to help take down Osborn and his flunkies." As he said this out loud, Iron Man was also using his right index finger to loudly tap on his right leg, namely that he was explain the true reason Wasp was quiet through Morse code.

Something in which Ms. Marvel heard and understood, and upon realizing the secret message, her eyes grew wide but she then nodded in acknowledgement. "Oh, right! Right, that's...that's good to know!" she answered, trying to make her 'shock' convincing enough to the people in the crowd watching, as well as the Thunderbolts themselves.

Iron Man let out a sigh of relief when he saw that Ms. Marvel understood the message, and though he wanted to tell the rest of his fellow Avengers, he had to keep quiet about it as to not alert the Thunderbolts, or at least until he knew that Gwen was safe. Forced to keep quiet on the face that it was not really Wasp and Spidey standing there, but in reality, they were holographic images being projected from a mini-camera that the Armored Avenger recently installed in his armor.

As for the REAL Wasp and Spidey, they were off on a secret rescue mission to get Gwen Stay out of the supervision, or more accurately, imprisonment of Victoria Hand.

Back in the sports box, both Gwen and Victoria see the Patriot's return from his math. While Victoria seemed to be reserved and pleased, Gwen was silently disappointed in the armored leader of the Thunderbolts, for not did he seem to take advantage of Quake's apparent seizure just to win, but also seems to be enabling his son's current aggressive behavior.

As Victoria watched her boss talk to the rest of the Thunderbolts from her seat, she turned to Gwen, still trying to keep her chipper demeanor around the young girl. "Well, Mr. Osborn put on quite a show, didn't he?"

"Yeah, I did," Gwen replied with a small smile, trying to mask her disgust in the Patriot's actions from his fight with Quake.

However, little did both Victoria and Gwen know, they were about to receive a surprise in the form of a small, disc-like device that Iron Man received came flying into the room and hovered right behind them, more specifically, Victoria. As the female agent was still focused on Gwen, a small compartment on top of the disc opened up, and out came a small, almost microscopic sized lifeform that appeared to be that of a yellow and black pixie, which unsuspectingly flew over and arrived in front of a small spot behind the left side of Victoria's neck.

As for Victoria, she still kept her warm smile present as she talked to blonde teen right in front of her. "Well, from how he, as well as your boyfriend won their matches, I'd say that you're..." Suddenly, Victoria gasped as she felt a sharp, stinging pain in the side of her neck. One in which was so powerful, it caused her to feel dizzy and drowsy, until seconds later, she let out a moan as she slumped into her chair and slipped into unconsciousness.

This both shocked and worried Gwen, so much so that she even went so far as to come close to the sleeping Victoria and gently shake her. "Ms. Hand? Ms. Hand, are you all right?"

Moments later, the cause of Victoria's sudden dosing off soon revealed itself as the tiny 'pixie' flew away from the outcold Victoria, then grew into the normal, human sized for of the Wasp, who gave Gwen with a welcoming, fun loving grin. "Hi there."

Needless to say, the Avenger's sudden appearance came as a surprise to Gwen, who immediately jumped out of her seat. "What?! The Wasp?"

As if any of this wasn't startling enough, another small lifeform jumped out of the circular disc, and soon grew up to be that of Spidey, who looked at Gwen with an unsure smile behind his mask. "Hey Gwen," he said softly, speaking as Peter Parker rather than a masked superhero.

"Spider-Man?!" asked the now baffled Gwen, who looked back and forth at both Wasp and the Web-Head in disbelief. "What's going on?!" Gwen later turned her attention to the slumbering Victoria, and her confused expression turned to fear and worry. "Is she...?"

"She's fine," Wasp relied. "She'll just be napping for while, thanks to my sting blast to a pressure on her neck. One of many cool things Cap taught me."

Though she was glad to have an explanation for Victoria's loss of consciousness, a still confused Gwen had one other question as she turned to the stage to see Spidey and Wasp holographic duplicates. "But if you two are here, then who are those two on the stage?"

It was here that Spidey decided to stand in and explain to the befuddled Gwen as he gently placed his right hand on her shoulder to get her attention. "Those are holograms that Iron Man's projecting from his armor." As he explained, Spidey could see Gwen becoming more confused than ever, and given what's been transpiring, he couldn't blame her. "They're to fool both the crowd and the Thunderbolts, all so me and Wasp can get you out of here and someplace safe."

This suddenly reminded Wasp of the next stage of the rescue plan, namely to pull out another small silver ball from out of her belt. "And so Victoria doesn't know that you're gone when she wakes up." She then pressed the button of the ball, then threw it into the seat to which Gwen was sitting on earlier. Moments later, small spider-like robots flowed out of the ball and puddled up into the chair like water, then piled up and formed into a human sized, life-like replica of Gwen herself.

Something in which made the real Gwen gasp in horror. "What the hell is that?!"

Wasp saw that this made Gwen more than uncomfortable, and thus stepped in tell her. "New age nano-tech that can instantly create life model decoys," she told her gently. "Creepy, I know, but when Victoria comes to, it'll fool her and she won't call a search for you."

Spidey, not knowing how long Victoria will stay out, soon stepped to encourage both ladies to start moving. "And on that note, Gwen, allow us real superheroes get you out of the building and someplace safe!"

This suddenly caused Gwen to shake her head and step away from Spidey and Wasp once they told her they had to leave. "What, no! I'm sorry, but no! I can't just leave! I can help you guys stop Mr. Osborn! In fact, I...I can get inside his computer database."

Normally for the Web-Head, Gwen's eagerness to help others in need was one of the many traits that he love about her, but sadly,, he knew that now was not the time for admiring the brave blonde, especially with her being in danger. "Look, Gwen, We appreciate that you want to help, but trust me, Iron Man's working on it!" This answered annoyed Gwen enough to make her give Spidey an expression to which she's most infamously known for from her friends and family, that being in which she crossed her arms and gave him both a narrow brow and a mean scowl which was known as 'The Look,' which she usually gave her friends whenever they said or did something that got under her skin. And though it was no longer as potent since she no longer wore glasses, it still made Spidey himself cower a little. _"Oh man, not the Look!"_ he thought nervously. _"Suddenly, taking a laser blast from Norman's old pumpkin bombs doesn't sound too bad right now."_

Wasp couldn't help but snicker, she had given Hank, before his Yellowjacket days, a similar look when he had gotten too wrapped up in his work.

As for Gwen herself, once she saw that she had the timid Spidey's attention, she continued in her explanation. "If by working on it, you must mean he hasn't broken into the systems yet. Well, if that's the case, I can!" Gwen's serious expressed changed to a much softer one as she continued. "Because...I know the password."

Needless to say, this news came as even bigger shock to both Spidey and Wasp. "WHAT?!" they exclaimed in unison, each of their eyes as wide as softballs as they look at Gwen in disbelief. "HOW?!"

Though taken aback by the bewildered reactions of the two Avengers, Gwen nevertheless began to tell them how she gained what could very well be a key element in stopping whatever scheme Osborn has cooked it. "It was right after Harry's dad first unveiled the Thunderbolts and made his challenge to all of you..."

_...Gwen flashed back to the evening in which she and her father were invited to the Thunderbolts unveiling celebration party at the Oscorp headquarters building. While her father conversed with Norman, who was still in hi Iron Patriot armor, minus his helmet, she wondered through the people, wearing another expensive dress, yet another gift from Harry, casually saying hello and smiling to numerous business people she didn't even know. However, she was really looking for Harry, and once she finally found him, he was still clad in his Scarlet Spider costume, but with out the mask and sitting in front of a computer watching a video from the S.H.I.E.L.D. files of the symbiote reproducing itself. Gwen quickly walked behind a corner, trying her best to stay hidden, and watched as Harry came across an icon on the screen that said "Please type in password to close program.' From then on, Gwen looked closer and watched Harry type in the keys D,A and D in that order and instantly memorizing her boyfriend's password._

_After shutting off the computer, Harry sudden felt his suit move, as if it was trying to alert him. This caused the young man to quickly turn at great speed, like that of a cheetah, and spotted Gwen, startling her. "Gwen! What the hell?!"_

_"Sorry!" said Gwen, trying to act like wondered into him by accident. "I was wondering where you were because I haven't seen you since-"_

_"Can't you see that I'm busy?!" Harry barked, with the suit making him a little bit bigger and causing Gwen to step back defensively and looking a bit scared. "I mean, now that I'm in a big time superhero team, I got allot of things to do, and I can't afford to be-" Suddenly, Harry managed to stop himself and calm down, and thus causing the suit to shrink him back down a bit. "I'm-I'm sorry Gwen, it's just I've been so busy with all these new things I have to look at and, it's been kinda stressful."_

_Though Gwen was still concerned, as well as a little frightened by Harry's small outburst, she still walked over and grabbed both of his hands in comfort. "It's okay," she told him with a warm smile. "Come on, I'd feel a lot better if I had my superhero with me."_

_Since putting on the suit, Harry had been feeling tense for the past few hours, and seeing the beautiful smile of Gwen Stacy was enough to make him relax and thus couldn't help but give her a small smile back. For her innocence and almost angelic glance was enough to quell almost any raging beast. As such, he gave her and nod and followed her to greet the guests._

_Gwen, though still giving Harry a loving glace, still felt creeped out by his suit as well as how tense it was making him. As such, she silently prayed for her boyfriend not to let his costume not to make him take things to far as she decided to keep this knowledge to herself until there would be a moment where, for Harry's sake, it might come in handy..._

..which led to that moment in the skybox in Madison Square Garden, where Gwen stood before a now baffled Spidey and Wasp after telling them her story. After a few moments of remaining silent, it was Spidey who finally spoke up. "You memorized a password just by watching someone type it into a keyboard?"

"Yeah, well...I guess you can say it's a hidden talent I have," Gwen replied somewhat sheepishly as she pulled her hair over her ear, a habit that normally occurred when she seemed nervous, but she later shook it off and returned to a more serious demeanor. "But one that I want to use to help you! Harry especially!"

At this point, Wasp puts both of her hands up to stop Gwen from talking to say this to her. "Okay, okay," she said with great urgency in her voice. "Just tell us, and we'll tell Iron Man, he'll know what to do with it!"

Suddenly, Wasp, Spidey and Gwen received a shock when they heard the voice of Iron Man, which came from the floating circular disc. "Afraid it's not that simple, Jan."

Needless to say, this started everyone inside the sports box, and it was the wide-eyed Wasp who spoke first. "Tony?! she asked looking at the disc in utter amazement. "You've been hearing us this whole time?!"

"Yeah, but not important," Iron Man replied on the other end. "As much as I'd like to use that password to hack into Osborn's computers, I can't. Reason being is that me and Cap's matches are coming up next and I need to run a diagnostic on my armor to get ready. Which also means I need to shut off your hologram doubles to do so. So you two need to get back here and fast! As for the girl, she'll have to go to Fury's safehouse and give the password to him."

As Gwen listened to this, she couldn't help but look dumbfounded. Not only was Iron Man calling from such a tiny device, but also hearing him talk about the S.H.I.E.L.D. director and his current hiding place. "What? Fury?"

It was hear that Spidey stepped in and approached her with a more softer demeanor, hoping it'll convince her to go. "Yeah, Fury! He can help you in helping us!" As he continued, the concerned Web-Head took both of the girl's hands and looked at her with a more pleading expression. "Just...go, Gwen! Now! Please!"

Normally, Gwen would seemed scared of a masked man grabbing her hands and would normally put the pepper spray that her father gave her to good use. But strangely, not this time, for the Web-Head's genuine concern and kindness somehow reminded her of the same warmth and innocence of Peter Parker. But why was it coming from Spidey of all people?

Suddenly, however, the awkward but quiet moment is put to an end when they heard the moan of the still sleeping Victoria, causing Gwen to shake her head and pull her hands out of Spidey's. "Okay, okay fine," she told the Web-Head, then turned her attention to Wasp. "So, what's the plan on getting me out of here?"

A smirking Wasp answered this by reaching over and grabbing the hovering disc. "Though this," she told Gwn as she presented her with the disc. "Just press the button on the top and let the disc do the rest."

Now more than ever, Gwen was confused about what Wasp meant and pointed at the disc. "You mean I just have to push that?" she asked, and upon pushing the button as instructed, the disc suddenly admitted an energy field which began to consume and shrink the girl instantly, causing her to yelp in fear. Once Gwen was ant-size, and falling to the floor as a result, the disc swooped in, open it's top hatch and caught the shrunken girl. Now with it's 'passenger', the disc flew out of the room via air shaft and proceeded to take Gwen out of the arena and on to the safety of Fury's hideout.

For Spidey, he was just relieved that, for now at least, the girl he loved was out of harm's way and that he can now concentrate on helping his teammates win the tournament.

The Wasp, satisfied that she helped saved one innocent life from this madness, turned to Spidey with a friendly smile. "Okay Web-Head, now that you friend is safe, let's get back to the stage so we can continue kicking some super-villain butt!"

Spidey, on the other hand, does not appear to be so optimistic. "Easy for you to say," he told the Wasp. "I mean, you can shrink and fly back without anybody noticing you. Me, not so much."

Wasp, still being chipper, reached behind her belt and pulled out a small bracelet, then placed it around the Wall-Crawler's wrist. "Temporary Pym Shrinker, a little something Hank cooked up whenever we had to get civilians out of harm's way. Just push the button once to shrink you down, then press it twice to grow back to normal size."

"Uh...okay," said the confused Spidey, "Here's hoping that it doesn't blow me up," The Web-Head then pushed the button on top of the bracelet, and suddenly, the bracelet wasted no time in shrinking Spidey down to size, causing him to scream in fear.

As for the smirking Wasp, she only shook her head, then flew down to pick up Spidey, who by this time was now on the floor. Like a hawk swooping in and picking up it's pray, Wasp soon grabbed the shrunken Spidey and flew him into the air and out of the skybox, where she took the stunned Wall-Crawler back to the stage, with both of them too small for the crowd to notice them. As she felt Spidey cling on to her for dear life, the sizing altering Avenger couldn't help let out a small giggle. "Bug boy, if you're voted to stay on the team, it's going to be so much fun training you."

The scared Spidey could only say this in both fear and sarcasm as he still kept a strong grip around the Wasp's waist. "Oh, I can't wait!"


	27. Chapter 27

**32ND FINALS: CAPTAIN AMERICA VS. CITIZEN V**

The in the Garden were now more riled up than ever once they saw the two names of the participants about to partake in the next match. All in which made the announcer hurry center stage so he could get the match under way. "All right, New York! We are now down to the final two matches of the thirty second finals, and am I right to assume that your ready for the next match-up?!" The announcer asked as he pointed his microphone at the crowd, causing them to cheer so loud, it was impossible for the announcer to hear himself think.

Meanwhile, in the Avengers corner, Iron Man still stood in place with his armor projecting the holograms of both Spidey and Wasp, silently worried as to why he hasn't heard from any of them yet. _"Come on, Jan,"_ thought the distressed Shell-Head. _"I can't keep this up forever."_

Moments later, the shrunken forms of the REAL Spidey and Wasp soon flew in and landed into the places of their holographic images. Afterwards, Wasp took a moment to look at Spidey, who still has the size changing bracelet that she gave him on the wrist. "All right, Web-Head, on my cue."

Though still shaken up about being shrunken down down smaller than the bug of his namesake, Spidey nevertheless placed his finger on top of the bracelet, then turned and nodded to the Wasp.

Once she received the Web-Head's acknowledgement, the Wasp soon pulled out I.D. card to alert Iron Man. "Okay Tony, we're back."

Upon hearing her message, Iron Man secretly let out a sigh of relief before replying. "Good to know, Jan. Now enlarge yourselves, I'm shutting off the holograms now."

"Got it," Wasp replied, then turned to Spidey. "Now!"

Upon hearing that word, Spidey wasted no time and pressed the button as instructed, and soon began to grow to his original size. Once she saw the Wall-Crawler growing, Wasp soon joined him in growing as well, until the both of them ended up back to human size.

As for Iron Man, he managed to see both Spidey and Wasp growing by seeing their heat signatures through his eye lenses. Once he saw that they were back to human size, he mentally commanded his armor to shut off both of the holograms once the real Spidey and Wasp were in place, deactivating them so quickly, no one even noticed. "Welcome back to the party," Iron Man told his returning teammates.

Spidey looked on to see the announcer taking the stage and addressing the audience, knowing that he was about to get the next match underway. "Looks like just in time too!" said the relieved Web-Head, then suddenly, the bracelet that was given to him suddenly began to fall apart piece by piece, as if it were decaying, and once the Wall-Crawler felt the device falling apart, he looked at his hand and was surprised to see that the bracelet had crumbled off his wrist and fell to the floor. "Man," said the astounded Spidey, still looking at the now bracelet free wrist with wide open eyes behind his mask. "Man, apparently when Dr. Pym said 'temporary', he wasn't kidding."

Wasp smiled a little upon hearing Spidey's remark, then turned away with a saddened expression. "You have no idea," she muttered, remembering how things ended between her and Hank Pym before the tournament.

Spidey noticed the normally chipper Wasp looking down, and was just about to ask her why and try to bring her spirits up.

Sadly, before the Web-Head could get the chance, he is interrupted when the announcer began speaking on his microphone. "And now, let's keep things rolling with two more flag barring fighters! As he have Thunderbolts' caped swordsman, Citizen V, taking on the Avengers' leader, the Sentinel of Liberty himself, Captain America!"

After hearing his name called, as well as a huge pop from the crowd, Cap slid his shield over his right arm and proceeded to walk towards the platform.

However, Iron Man took this moment to walk over to the Super Soldier. "Cap," said the Shell-head, causing Cap to stop and turn around. Even though these two did not always see eye to eye, Iron Man still respected Cap and knew more than anyone someone as highly trained and dedicated as the Super Solder had this match in the bag. "Give him, hell."

"That's the plan, Tony," Cap told his armored teammate with a small smile, then turned to Spidey and the others. "And I trust all of you have the same mindset?"

Spidey, being ever the admirer of the Super Soldier, decided to speak up in support of him. "I know I do! Go get 'em, Cap!"

Wasp heard the Wall Crawler's words, and it actually inspired her to smile once again.

Even Hawkeye, one of the Spidey's harshest critics, smirked and nodded. "For once, the bug and I agree one something!" said the archer. "Give that sword wielding punk one for each of us, old man!"

Cap smiled at Hawkeye's words, and after giving his teammates a nod, he turned and proceeded to walk over to the teleportation pad to have his match.

Meanwhile, in the Thunderbolts' corner, Citizen V is leaning his head from side to side, popping the cricks in his neck as he readied himself for his fight with Cap. Something he has been looking forward to all day. "Finally," said the caped swordsman, then turned to face the Patriot with a smug expression behind his mask. "Now it is time for you to see how a TRUE leader fights, Osborn."

The Patriot,, while hold his angered son back with one hand, only looked at Citizen V stone faced and was not the least bit intimidated. "Just do your part and get Rogers out of the equation," he told his teammate with no tolerance whatsoever for his arrogance.

"Of course," Citizen V replied as he placed his right hand over the hand over the top of the handle of his sword that was resting in the sheath by his left side. "And I shall have no difficulty in doing so...unlike some armor wearing comrades, I know." With that last verbal jab at the Patriot, Citizen V turned around and walked over to the teleportation pads, where Cap himself was already standing and waiting.

As for the Iron Patriot himself, he let out a sigh of aggravation as he watched his sword wielding comrade step on to the pad. "How I look forward for his usefulness to come to an end soon."

Finally, as Citizen V walked over and stepped on his pad, both he and Cap vanished out of thin air and over to their designated fight zone so they can begin their match.

This time, the fight zone is set in Washington D.C., with the large platform set up in front of the Lincoln Memorial, with energy ropes keeping the spectators back and four holo-screens floating above for the crowd to see all of the action. Moments later, two flashes of light appear and are revealed to be that of Cap and Citizen V, which caused the people to cheer wildly upon seeing them. Normally, Cap would be happy to be in Washington, for as a soldier, he always considered it to be an honor to be in the Nation's Capital, and was just as pleased to see that it was still in one piece after the incident with the Red Skull, as well as his brief reunion with Bucky, who now went by the name Winder Soldier. But now, he found himself forced to cast those feelings aside, for he must now do battle in the Capitol City against an unknown foe in the form of the mysterious caped swordsman standing right in front of him.

Citizen V couldn't ask for a better place to claim victory. For what better place to best and humiliate Cap than Washington, the capitol city of the country he loves.

As the two combatants stare at each other, the Ref Bot finally floated right in between them, causing the crowd to cheer with anticipation. "All right gentlemen, I trust you both know the rules?" asked the announcer with a worried look on the Ref Bot's screen. Both Cap and Citizen V heard the announcer and each gave a nod of acknowledgement while still staring at one another. "Well then, let's not keep the people of D.C. waiting!" Just like the matches from before, the announcer mentally commanded the Ref Bot to fly up high into the air and above the holo-screens to get the match started.

Knowing battle was close at hand, Citizen V used his left hand to reach over his right shoulder, then proceeded to pull off his cape and throw it to the side, where a security guard stood close enough to catch it. "Oh Captain," said the masked Thunderbolt used his right hand to reach over and pull out his sword, then got into a fencing stance. "You have no idea how long I've waited for this moment."

Cap could sense the hatred in Citizen V's voice, and though it confused him as to why that was, he nonetheless kept his shield on hand as he stood ready to fight. "Don't know what you have against me, friend, but let's see what you've made of!"

This reply rubbed Citizen V the wrong way, causing him to give the Super Soldier a death glare. "I'm no friend of yours!" he said angrily. "I never was!"

With Cap and Citizen V in their respected fighting stances, the announcer soon said the words everyone was waiting to hear. "BEGIN!"

With the crowd cheering behind them and weapons in hand, Cap and Citizen V waste no time get started as they ran towards one another at full force, and it is Citizen V who attacks first by thrusting his sword forward, aiming its tip at Cap's belt buckle.

Luckily for Cap though, he throws his shield downward, using it's edge to deflect and push the Thunderbolt's sword down to the platform. Then, keeping a firm grip on the shield's leather strap, he threw his right arm up in a rising backhand motion and rams the center of the shield into the masked swordsman's face, causing him to stumble backward and let go of his sword in the process. With the Thunderbolt now without a weapon, Cap attempted to end this running towards his dazed opponent , then jumped up and threw a right legged flying kick.

However, Citizen V spotted this attack coming his way and quickly ducked to avoid Cap's kick, causing the Super Soldier himself to land on his feet but end up right behind him.

But even after missing the kick, Cap still chose to continue his attack by standing up, then turn to see Citizen V up and facing him, and continued his assault by throwing a shield equipped right hook, intending to hit Citizen V in the temple with the edge of his shield.

Citizen V, however, proved to be ready for this, and thus secretly pressed a button in his right glove, then held up his right arm, opened his palm and actually grabbed the shield itself, and surprisingly, stopped the attack without even breaking his hand. After saving himself, Citizen V counterattacked by throwing a left legged front kick, hitting Cap in the chest and causing him to fall on on the platform and on to his back. Now in control, the Thunderbolt took his opponent's shield with both hands, then jumped up, raising it over his head and as he came down, drove it downward with the intent of hitting Cap's belt buckle and win the match.

Cap, on the other hand, saved himself by rolling to the left side and causing Citizen V to ram the shield's edge into the platform instead. After saving himself, the Star Spangled Avenger popped back up on his feet, ran towards Citizen V, who by this time was struggling to get the shield out, and delivered a hard left legged round kick, nailing the Thunderbolt in his covered face and causing him to roll backward and away from The Avenger's shield. Moments later, Cap quickly bent down, grabbed his shield with both hands and successfully pulled the shield out of the platform. After reclaiming his trademark weapon, Cap slid the shield over his right arm, then ran towards Citizen V, who by then had rolled backward and ending up in a kneeling position.

After regaining his senses, Citizen V saw the Super Soldier coming his way and acted by secretly pressing a button in his left glove, then pointed that same hand where his sword was laying. Little did everyone know was that Citizen V's glove contained circuitry that generated a magnetic field, which soon pulled the sword towards the waiting Thunderbolt, and allowing him to catch it with his open hand. Armed once again, and secretly pressed the handle against the sewn in button to turn off the hidden magnet Citizen V spotted Cap shield enforced right hook, and thus placed the sword back into his right hand, then held it up to the right side and blocked Cap's shield attack, which resulted in putting the two in a stand off and staring intently into each others eyes.

Meanwhile, back in the Garden, as the audience cheered for the action, both the Avengers and Thunderbolts kept their eyes on the screen and were both anxious and tense as the match went on. While the rest of the Avengers were on edge, Wolverine was the most calm out of all of them, watching the fight with an emotionless expression on his face. "Well, Rogers hasn't been slacking off, I'll give him that."

Wasp heard Wolverine's words and gave him an angry glare as she spoke on the Super Soldier's behalf. "Yeah, well, he proved that by leading us in a fight against a planet eating alien and his heralds."

Spidey also joined in on supporting the Sentinel of Liberty. "I can definitely vouch for that," said the Wall Crawler sternly to the clawed X-Man, then looked back up at the screen and went back to watching the match, he silently grew worried for Cap as the fight grew more and more intense. _"Come on, Cap!"_

Back in Washington, Cap found himself on the defensive by using his shield to block and deflect numerous slashes from Citizen V's blade. Finally, after successfully blocking another slash, Cap managed to push the blade outward with his shield and managed to land a quick left jab to the Thunderbolt's face. With Citizen V stunned, Cap spun around and threw a shield enhanced spinning right back fist, nailing his dazed opponent in the left side of his head and causing him to tumble to the right side and fall to the platform floor.

While down, Citizen V shook of the effects of Cap's last attack, and felt both embarrassed and angry on how he was taken down in front of both spectators in Washington, and those watching around the globe. As he stood back up, he turned to see Cap heading towards him, and in hopes of slicing the Avenger's belt buckle in two, or at the very least create distance between the two, he performed a rising upward slash.

But thanks to his quick reflexes, Cap managed to stop himself just in the nick of time, with the tip of his blade just inches away from touching his belt buckle. Moments later, Citizen V quickly got back into a fencing stance and thrusts his blade at Cap once again, only for Cap himself to hold his shield in front of him to block the incoming attack, then went on the offensive by throwing a left legged front kick, aiming for the Thunderbolt's belt buckle. This of course forced Citizen V to side step to the right, avoiding the Super Soldier's kick.

Once Cap stopped himself from falling forward, he looked over his right shoulder to see Citizen V charging towards him with his sword raised over his head and throwing a downward slash, causing the battle hardened leader of the Avengers to raise his shield over his head to block the blade. Cap then responded by throwing a right legged side kick into the Thunderbolt's abdomen, causing his opponent to bend down slightly, allowing Cap to capitalize by throwing a left legged round kick, aiming for his enemy's masked head.

However, Citizen V noticed this and ducked his head just in time to avoid getting kicked in the head, causing Cap's left foot to pass right over him. As he stood up, Citizen V noticed Cap continuing his attack by throwing his shield in a back-fist motion, and with the sword still in his right hand, Citizen V countered by holding his blade to the left side to bock the shield attack, then followed up by sneaking a left jab to Cap's face, stunning him enough to make him take two steps back away from him. Now back in control, Citizen V took advantage of Cap's dazed state by thrusting his sword forward once again, with his opponent's belt buckle once again being his target.

Luckily for Cap though, he anticipated this and recovered fast enough to use his shield to block the attack, and push the blade up and outward, giving him enough room to throw a left uppercut.

Unfortunately for the Super Soldier, Citizen V was just as quick to react and thus stopped Cap's punch by using his left hand to catch his wrist. Moments later, he spotted Cap going for a right legged knee strike to his belt buckle, and with a smirk behind his mask, held up his left leg and easily blocked the strike. "I'm afraid you'll have to do better than that, Captain."

Cap was disgusted by Citizen V's smug, arrogant attitude, especially when it reminded him of an old enemy which, according to the news, was already dead. Nevertheless, this position gave Cap an idea on a brutal, but still effective way to get back on top. "Whatever you say," he told the Thunderbolt, then leaned his head back and gave Citizen V a hard headbutt to his face, knocking him so loopy, he actually dropped his sword. With the masked swordsman now disoriented and unarmed, Cap jumped up and used his left leg to throw a round kick, nailing Citizen V in the head and taking him off of his feet and causing him to land on his left hand. As Cap landed safely on the platform, he looked down to see Citizen V's sword and placed his right foot on top of it. "Surrender is your only option."

Though the padding and mechanics in his left glove protected Citizen V's hand from being broken after landing on it, the Thunderbolt bolt also felt parts break apart, leading him to assume that the hopes of using the built-in magnet were dashed. As such, this prompted him to use one particular method of regaining an advantage, playing on Cap's sense of honor. "Big words coming from the man who now has both his shield and my sword," he told the Star Spangled Avenger as he stood back up on his feet, then got into a fighting stance. "As oppose to being a real man and win this match with his bare hands."

Cap knew that Citizen V was trying to goat him into getting rid of his shield so he could leave himself open to whatever sneak attack that the Thunderbolt had in store for him, yet at the same time, he felt that if he was going to represent his teammates in this tournament, he had to show the people around the world that he, as well as the rest of the Avengers, were not cheaters and that they would not use unfair advantages, such as using weapons on unarmed men. Henceforth, he tossed his shield away and out of the platform, as well as kicking Citizen V's sword out as well. With both weapons now out of the fight, Cap got into a fighting stance as well,, all the while still keeping eye contact with an equally ready Citizen V. "All right, Mister, if that's how you want it, let's see what you've got."

With an evil smile behind his mask, Citizen V soon charged towards Cap himself, cocked his right fist back and threw a right hook.

Naturally, Cap held up his right arm to block the punch and went for a left jab, only for it to be stopped when Citizen V used his left hand to block and push his fist outward.

After saving himself from Cap's counter attack, Citizen V continued his assault by throwing a right legged front kick to destroy the Super Solider's belt buckle.

Luckily for Cap, he protected himself by slightly bend down and throwing his left arm downward in an inside block fashion, successfully deflecting the kick. Afterwards, he popped back up and threw a right elbow strike, aiming for Citizen V's right temple, which caused the masked Thunderbolt stopped by holding his right arm over to the right side of his head and blowing the blow.

Citizen V then fought back by throwing a left hook, only to miss when Cap spotted it and ducked underneath it. As Cap popped back up, Citizen V soon acted desperately by throwing a right legged roundhouse kick, intending to hit the Star Spangled Avenger's right side.

Fortunately for Cap though, he stopped this by using his right arm to block the kick. Moments later, he saw Citizen V pull his right leg back, then used it to throw another round kick, only this time, aiming for his head. Acting fast, Cap held his right arm over the that side of his head and successfully blocked the blow, then saw the Thunderbolt throwing a left hook, thus forcing the Super Solider to use both of his hands to catch the Thunderbolt's arm, then managed to sneak in a quick right back-fist into his masked face, With his opponent now dazed, the Sentinel of Liberty capitalized by throwing a left cross to Citizen V's jaw, one that was so hard, it made him stumble away in circles until he went down on one knee.

As the fallen Citizen V took a moment to shake his head and regain focus, he then saw Cap walking towards him, causing him to pop right back up and go for a right legged front kick, only for Cap to stop it by using his left leg to throw a low kick right into the Thunderbolt's extended ankle, causing him to yell in pain and pull his left back. Now more frustrated as ever, Citizen V continued his assault by throwing a right hook.

Cap, on the other hand, saw this and threw his left arm in an inside block fashion and used his open hand to catch the Thunderbolt's wrist, stopping the attack instantly. Moments later, he responded by throwing a right cross.

Unfortunately, Citizen V took not of his flag barring enemy's last tactic, and thus used his left hand to catch Cap's wrist as well.

With both men now in a stalemate, Cap and Citizen V both tried to push on another to the floor. As the combatants tried to overpower the other, Citizen V whispered this Cap's ear. "I glad that we can settle this man to man..." said the Thunderbolt, and feeling that a small part of him wanted to reveal himself to his enemy, as well as taunt him to get under his skin. Thus, he decided to say this not in his English accent...but his naturally born German accent. "Especially since I can now finish what the Red Skull could not!"

Upon hearing Citizen whisper these words in his true voice, Cap's eyes grew wide with shock as he recognized that evil, venomous true voice. One that belong to a villain he knew all too well, and was surprised to see was still alive. "Zemo!" he said quietly, then pushed the now revealed Zemo's arms outward all so he could make to throw a right legged front kick, nailing Zemo in the chest, causing him to step backward a few steps and create some space between the two.

As Zemo reeled backward, he managed to control his fall by performing a back handspring and landing in a readied stance. And just in time, for he spotted Cap charging towards him with his right fists cocked back. The disguised villain waited for Cap to throw a right hook, then used both of his hands to grab his old enemy's arm and gave him a shoulder throw.

After landing hard on his back, Cap grunted in pain, but luckily, his hand-to-hand training on how to take a fall served him well not seriously hurting himself. But by now, he knew Zemo would put him in an arm bar in this position, and thus pulled his right arm downward, which in turn, pulled Zemo down to him, allowing him to slide his left hand behind his enemy's head and pull him into a left legged knee strike, causing Zemo to released the hold and rolled backward.

However, Zemo managed to control his fall as well and thus rolled backward and in a kneeling position. "Well, well," said Zemo with a smirk behind his Citizen V mask, always taking pleasure in getting Cap riled up. "As you Americans would say...I may have struck a nerve."

Cap quickly stood back up, enraged on how Zemo was dressing in his red, white and blue, to help out in Osborn's plot, and more likely, serve his own ends. As such, he angrily walked towards him, wanting to pummel him into a paste. Once Cap got close enough, he saw Zemo turned to his right side to throw a left legged side kick, aiming for the Super Soldier's belt buckle. As such, Cap easily threw his left arm downward to block the attack, and not wanting to give Zemo a chance to recuperate, used his right hand to grab him by the collar and lift him back to his feet. "I knew that the news of you being dead was too good to be true," said Cap with intense hatred. "I take it Osborn staged your dead, as well as helped you escape from Prison 42?"

"Astute as always, Captain," Zemo said smugly, then surprised Cap by giving him a hard headbutt to his face. As Cap staged in a daze, as well as having a bloody nose, Zemo took advantage of this by throwing a left hook to Cap's jaw, followed by jumping right legged round kick into his head, sending the Super Soldier down hard.

At first, Cap laid there dazed and confused, his head throbbing after taking two brutal hits from his disguised arch enemy. However, he seemed slowly regain his focus when he faintly heard cheers from the crowd, but it wasn't until he heard a particular sound that regained full focus.

That being the sound of a young voice belonging to to an eight year old boy, watching the fight with his father and wearing a T-shirt with Cap's shield on it. "Come on, Cap! Get up!"

Seeing that little boy's face was more than enough to lit the fire inside Cap once again and remind him to never give up to people like Zemo, and thus was more determined to both not let his teammates down, but that little boy, as well as the American people and the free souls around the world still not knowing the Thunderbolts' true plot.

But such courage meant nothing to Zemo, as he walked towards Cap and put his right hand on the Super Soldier's left shoulder. "Well Captain, this little match of ours was quite fun," he told Cap while tightening his grip on his shirt. "But now, it is time for me to put it to an end by humiliating you in front of these people, and when the tournament is over, heard them like sheep...after disposing of you myself!" With that said, and having an evil grin behind his mask, Zemo used his strength to pull Cap up to his feet so he can punch his belt buckle to win the match, and do it in front of the entire world.

However, Cap decided to turn this negative situation into a positive one, in that he allowed Zemo to pull him up, then surprised him by throwing a right upward elbow strike, nailing Zemo in the chin. Now on his feet, and with the disguised former leader of the Masters of Evil disoriented, Cap delivered a hard right legged side kick, hitting and destroying Zemo's belt buckle.

"NOOOOOO!" yelled Zemo as yellow energy consumed his entire being, then froze him stiff, causing him to fall to the platform.

This resulted int the Avengers fans in the crowd to cheer, and the Ref Bot to hover down and end up right next to the victorious Cap, with the announer's smiling face on the bot's screen. "Here is your winner...CAPTAIN AMERICA!"

With fans cheering around the platform cheering in approval, Cap looked down at the now defeated Zemo with a grim expression. "The day I lose to the likes of you is the day I turn in my shield."

**WINNER: CAPTAIN AMERICA**


	28. Chapter 28

**CAPTAIN AMERICA...WINNER?**

The Avengers, as well as their fans in the Garden, all cheered in approval and admiration for Cap as he, with shield i hand, is transported back into the arena after defeating Zemo. Spidey was the one cheering the loudest out of all the Avengers, which earned him confused looks from Wolverine and Hawkeye, but smiles from Wasp and Ms. Marvel, who shared his admiration for the Sentinel of Liberty. "ALL RIGHT, CAP!' he exclaimed. "Way to show that Citizen V guy whose..." Suddenly, the Wall-Crawler's happiness soon turned to concern as he looked harder at Cap and noticed something odd about him. "...Cap?"

As Cap waked over to his team's corner, he did not appeared to be in the best of spirits. Meaning that his skin looked pale, and that he seemed be barely awake, and worse, having trouble breathing.

A sight that clearly worried Iron Man greatly. "Steve?" he asked moving towards his fellow Avenger. "Steve, are you okay?"

Spidey, as well as the Wasp and the rest of the Avengers, were all equally scared for Cap, and they all slowly followed Iron Man in checking with the seemingly sickened Super Soldier.

As for Cap himself, his skin was now more pale and with small black veins showing. "Tony...I..." Before Cap could utter another word, his eyes roll into the back of his head and passed out into Iron Man's arms.

Something which shocked and scared the people in the Garden, especially Spidey. "CAP!" he yelled as he, as well as the rest of the shocked Avengers, all ran towards Iron Man as he began to sweep the now unconscious Captain off of his feet.

After cradling in Cap in his arms, Iron Man saw his teammates coming to him through the corner of his eyes and thus turned to them. "Everybody calm down!" he told his fellow Avengers loudly, causing them to stop in their tracks. "I can get Cap to a hospital in less than three minutes, so just sit tight!" The Shellhead then turned away from his teammates and looked straight ahead over the crowd and to the front doors just ahead with two guards standing by. "J.A.R.V.I.S., divert all power to jet boots!"

"I just did," J.A.R.V.I.S. replied, sounding just as determined in saving Cap as Iron Man was.

Without wasting anytime, Iron Man powers on his jet boots and shot off of the stage like a bottle rocket and zoomed over the crowd and towards the front doors, to which the frightened guards open and let Iron Man leave the stadium with Cap in tow.

After watching Iron Man leave with sickly Super Soldier, as well as leave the crowd in a state of pandemonium, the announcer is prompted to try and regain the crowd's attention. "Everybody, please stay calm!" he told them, trying to hide his nervousness of the situation, but with minimal success. "We're not exactly sure what just happened to the Captain, but as you just saw, Iron Man is taking care of it!"

With the crowd in disarray, the Avengers just as scared and practically clueless, an equally concerned Spidey somehow knew in his gut as to what was responsible for Cap suddenly collapsing, and more importantly, who. To which prompted the Web-Head to look straight ahead and see who he knew had everything to do with this, and thus muttered his name with intense anger. "Osborn!"

Sure enough, Norman Osborn, within his Iron Patriot armor, looked on at the events with his evil smile behind his faceplate. Afterwards, he mentally activates the intercom system in his helmet to contact Maria Hill "Agent Hill, when Zemo arrives in the Helocarrior, don't put him in a cell. As far as I'm concerned, he still eliminated a threat and should not be punished for it."

Back in the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helocarrior and inside a metal yet lavish room, the defeated Baron Zemo, still clad in his Citizen V uniform, found himself standing over a golden sink and in front of a mirror. With a sigh, Zemo took off his mask and bared witness to his reflection of a cracked life-like mask resembling that of John Watkins Jr., a man who at one point was the hero known as Citizen V, but was killed by Zemo himself so the former leader of H.Y.D.R.A. could steal his identity. Seeing no point in keeping it, Zemo bashed the face, causing it to crumble in pieces into the sink and reveal Baron Zemo's horribly disfigured face, something that he still felt that Captain America was responsible for, and was confident that he made him pay, despite losing the match. Moments later, he pulled out a drawer underneath the sink and pulled out something that he considered his 'true face', his purple mask as well as his golden crown. Right after he put on the mask, the Master of Evil heard a buzzing noise, which occurred when someone outside pressed a button to signify their arrival. "Enter," said Zemo as he put on and secured the gold crown on his head.

The door opened, and the person who rang the buzzer was that of Maria Hill, who at this time was holding an iPad-like device right underneath her arm.

"Ah, Agent Hill," said Zemo as he saw her reflection in the window, then turned to face her. "I assume you are here to escort me to a holding cell and place me with the rest of the Avengers imprisoned, as well as the fools who lost their matches?"

"No," Maria replied, her face stern and emotionless. "Mr. Osborn wanted me to inform you that despite losing your match, you won't be confined to a cell, seeing is how you've eliminated Captain America."

Zemo chuckled once he heard this news, then held up his left hand to revealed a small needle within the ring he was wearing, which turned out to have the Morlun virus, to which he injected into Cap's system when he grabbed his left shoulder in their match together. "If that is the case, thenI take that something 'unfortunate' happened to the Captain?"

To answer that, Maria pulled out the iPad and showed Zemo the image of Cap collapsing in Madison Square Garden, a sight that filled him with a dark, evil glee. "Excellent."

Elsewhere on the planet, and more accurately, the vast Pacific Ocean, the Hulk tirelessly swimming through wave after wave, trying to get back to the United States, with the thought of making Norman Osborn pay for what he did to him in New Mexico being his motivation. Suddenly, while in mid-stroke, the Hulk is caught by surprise when a mysterious bright light shined over him, and what was worse, began lifting him up out of the water and into the air. Moments later, the strange force that lifted the Jade Giant up is revealed to be a large, circular like craft, which opened it's bottom doors and brought Hulk himself inside. Once the Green Goliath was inside, the ship closed it's doors and flew higher into the sky.

Inside the ship, the Hulk soon founded himself in a darkened room and anger soon surged within him as he now knew he had to deal with another person dumb enough to get in his way of getting to Osborn. "Don't know who you are," he growled. "But I only want to smash Osborn and I already got a list of idiots who tried to stop me. So let me go, or your going to be added to that list!"

Suddenly, the door just above opens up to show a blinding light...as well as condescending laughter coming from what sounded like a middle aged man. "Still thinking that you, a pea brained monster, is in control of the situation. A middle aged man comes out of the light and revealed himself to being that of the green skinned, large headed man that was one of the Hulk's oldest, long standing foes, the Leader, who by this time was inside a large, hovering metal capsule-like craft. "Well, you are sorely mistaken, old enemy," said the Leader in his usual stuck up demeanor, then pressed a button on the control capsule, which caused the pod to admit field, one which attracted two massive arms, bigger than the Hulk himself, which soon connected to both of the capsule's sides. To make matters worse, two massive legs come from out of the floor and attach themselves at the bottom of the capsule, turning it into a large mechanical suit. "This time, you will finally bow before your Leader, before I finally finish you off, once and for all!"


	29. Chapter 29

**SAFE HAVEN**

Five to six minutes have passed since Iron Man took the sickly Captain America to the nearest hospital, and everyone in the stadium, or at least the Avengers and their fans, were all nervous and scared for the Sentinel of Liberty after he collapsed. Finally, with the sound of the resembling that of jet engines flying into the building, the people's eyes soon lit up with hope when they saw Iron Man fly overhead and land on to the stage. It was here that the Shell-head is greeted by the equally worried announcer. "Mr. Stark, is the Captain all-"

Before the announcer could finish his question, Iron Man held up his hand to cut him off mid-sentence, and thus lifted up his face-plate to show the angry face of Tony Stark, all so he can come close to the announcer and whisper this to his ear.

After a few seconds of listening, the announcer gave Tony a nod, and thus turned his attention to the crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Stark has informed me that Captain America is now at Mount Sinai hospital receiving treatment from doctors that are tending to him as we speak. We will do our best to let you know if we receive any updates on his condition. However, we still have a tournament to get through, and due to these developments, we have no choice but to eliminate Captain America."

As the crowd let out a mixture of cheers and boos, Tony mentally lowered his face plate, returning the tournament as Iron Man once more, and finally returned to his teammates, with a very worried Ms. Marvel being the first one to approach him. "Please tell me that Cap is in a hospital that doesn't have mind controlled S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and that he's somewhere safe!"

"Well," said Iron Man in a relaxed tone. "Yes and no..."

_"The Shellhead flashed back to when he first carried the unconscious Cap through the front doors of Mount Sinai Hospital. 'I need a medic! Now!" Iron Man yelled getting the attention of medical staff, as well as the patients and visitors present. However, he is soon approached by two women in scrubs, which to the Golden Avenger's relief, were the disguised Sharon and Misty Knight, arriving in front of Iron Man with a wheeled stretcher._

_Once they had Iron Man's attention, it is Sharon to be the one who addressed him. "We'll take it from here, Mr. Stark!" said 'Nurse Carter in a serious, but also gentle to give the armored hero reassurance._

_After seeing these two faces that knew he knew could truly help Cap, Iron Man gave them both a nod and placed the ill Super Soldier on the stretcher and watched as both Sharon and Misty wheeled Cap away, silently hoping that Cap would hold on long enough for the proper care to save him..."_

...a hope he still had in the Garden as he explained the situation to the rest of the teammates. "But, on the bright side, Cap's in good hands with Fury. But we're still going to need an antidote if we're going to save him," Iron Man soon turned his attention to Spidey. "One that your girlfriend said she can get for us."

"Whoa, whoa, she's not my girlfriend!" said a shocked Spidey, blushing wildly underneath his mask and took a few seconds to calm down. "But seriously, don't worry! Gwen has been known to pull through in crazy situations. I know she can help in saving Cap!"

Iron Man wanted to believe the Web-Head, but with the way things have been escalating, he wasn't so sure. Still, after letting out a sigh, Iron Man responded to Spidey's words with a nod. "I hope you're right, kid."

Before the rest of the Avengers could voice their opinions on the matter, the announcer gets back to work in addressing the crowd. "Well folks, folks, it's time to end the thirty second finals with a bang! For up next we have the Avengers' Invincible Iron Man taking on the Thunderbolts' high flying Mach IV!"

With his name called, Iron Man turned to walk to the teleporation pad, but not before looking over his shoulder to address his fellow Avengers one lasttime. "Don't wait up, guys. This won't take long."

The next to speak up is Thor, who seemed to be more riled up than usual after seeing Cap collapse and was eager to see more of the Thunderbolts receive a beating. "Go forth, Iron Man! Show these vile fiends that we, the Avengers, are not to be trifled with!"

"That's the plan, Thor," Iron Man told his godly teammate, feeling that that was the only thing that he's said all day that made sense. Afterwards, he proceeded to the teleportation pad.

Meanwhile, over in the Thunderbolts' corner, Mach IV reveled in the chance to defeat Iron Man and gain recognition he longed for while he was the Beetle. "All right," said the winged Thunderbolt as he charged his wrist mounted gauntlets. "Time to shine."

The Iron Patriot on the other hand, was not impressed by Mach IV's bravado. "You'll 'shine' if you can get the job done."

Mach IV looked over his shoulder and looked at the Patriot with a smirk. "Oh, I can," he told his armored superior, trying not to sound intimidated. "Just you watch." With that said, Mach IV went on his way to the teleportation pad, determined to show the world what he was capable off.

Once both armored combatants were on the pads, they soon vanished out of sight to engage in their fight and thus begin the final match of the thirty-second finals.

Meanwhile, back in Nick Fury's safe house, the former director of S.H.I.E.L.D. watched the screen with utter disgust. Not only did he witness the losses of his two best agents in Natasha and Quake, but like many people watching, witnessed Cap collapsing and knew that Osborn was behind it somehow.

But in the midst of his anger, the seasoned spy was about to receive a surprise when the small disc that rescued Gwen Stacy from earlier comes flying in. Moments later, it projects a small, thin beam on the floor and protected something small, roughly the size of an ant. Moments later, the object soon grew to human size and is revealed to be the shocked and confused Gwen Stacy. "What in the world?!" asked a befuddled Gwen, looking around at her strange new surroundings.

This, of course, led to Nick to step in and approached the confused Gwen. "Welcome, Ms. Stacy, he said calmly, getting the girl's attention.

"Where...where am I?" asked the still shocked Gwen.

"My private safe house," Nick replied with his usual calm and collected demeanor. "One in which S.H.I.E.L.D., and more importantly, Osborn, don't know about." Sensing that Gwen was still hysterical over what just happened, Nick soon changed his tone to a softer one as he approached her. "All you need to know is that you're safe now...and were expecting another guest."

"Guest?" Gwen asked, then suddenly, she and Nick both heard the door open, causing them to turn in that direction and see that it was Sharon and Misty wheeling in the unconscious as well as sickly Cap, causing Gwen's eyes to grow wide with horror as she placed her hands over her mouth in shock. "Oh my god! What happened to him?"

Nick answered the girl while still looking at Cap with a somewhat saddened expression. "He somehow go poisoned during his match, no doubt the result of Osborn and his goons fighting dirty. To make matters worse, Cap has the same sickness of another person were trying to help, and I've been told that you might be able to help us in saving them both, Ms. Stacy."

It was here that Gwen's shocked expression soon changed to that of a serious one, something that always occurred when she had a chance to help others in need. "How?"

Nick soon walked over to large screen, then pressed a button on the keyboard, which change the image on the screen from the tournament itself to the Oscorp computer mainframe asking for a password. "By giving us that password Spider-Man said you had for us."

Mere moments after Nick said that, the Vision's digitized head appeared on the bottom right corner of the screen. "Which will be quite useful."

Needless to say, the Vision's sudden appearance came as a shock to everyone present, including that of the normally reserved Nick Fury himself. "Vision?!" asked the former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. "How the hell did you-?!"

"Iron Man sent me. He felt that I could be of some assistance in creating the cure for the Morlun Virus," Moment's later, the digitized form of the sythezoid turned his attention to the stunned Gwen. "But only if you enter the password, Ms. Stacy."

"O-Oh right, sure!" Gwen replied, shaking off the shock of seeing Vision's head, then walked over to the keyboard and typed in the password she acquired from Harry into the computer, and successfully gained access to the Oscorp database.

As for Nick, he stood there with his arms crossed, letting out a discourage sigh as he turned and looked at the unconscious Cap. _"Well, looks like you're the leader of the team again, Stark,"_ he thought to himself. _"And for all our sakes, don't screw it up!"_


	30. Chapter 30

**32ND FINALS: IRON MAN VS. MACH IV**

There was no cheering crowd in the final match of the thirty-second finals of the tie Contest of Champions tournament. Mainly because it was taking place of the time square of the the empty, abandoned, practically ghost town that was the city of Pripyat, a town devoid of all life due to a Ukrainian SSR Nuclear Reactor that suffered a series of explosions and fallout that was described as the worst nuclear power accident in history, with the same yellow energy ropes surrounding the whole city.

Once he and his opponent, Mach IV, arrived at the seen, Iron Man looked around the the desolation and muttered this to himself. "Wouldn't want to vacation here."

This caused J.A.R.V.I.S. to react with his usual programmed quipping. _**"A good idea, sir,"**_ he told the Golden Avenger. _**"Considering that it was evacuated during a radiation leak."**_ Before continuing, J.A.R.V.I.S. pulled up a digital screen showing the schematics of this particular armor inside Iron Man's helmet. _**"Which I am pleased to report that the Mark IV armor will provide you with complete protection against. However, I still advise you to exercise caution."**_

"Trust me, J.A.R.V.I.S., being contaminated is not on my 'most desired' list," Iron Man told his trusty A.I. then had a grim expression when he set his sights on Mach IV. "What but I do have on that list is beating the snot of out this punk here and sending a message to Norman to let him know what's in store for him!"

Mach IV himself was also scanning his armor, and upon looking at a small screen on his right gauntlet, he could see that it is designed to protect him from the looming radiation in the area. A fact that brought a smile on his face, because it meant he could beat Iron Man mercilessly without having to worry about being contaminated.

Suddenly, and from out of nowhere, a Ref Bot appeared and hovered right between the two combatants, with the announcer's concerned face on the screen. "Now gentlemen, even though there are no bystanders to get in the way, I must advice that you concentrate on your opponent's belt buckle, and not damage your armors two badly, given your current surroundings. Understood?" The announcer received nods from both Iron Man and Mach IV, which was a good enough answer for him. "All right then..." the announcer wasted no time in commanding the Ref Bot to fly up high into the air and above the deserted city. "BEGIN!"

Once the word was given, Mach IV went on to end this match quickly by rocketing towards Iron Man, and more specifically the built-buckle in the waistline of his armor.

Luckily though, Iron Man spotted this at the last second, and thus used his rocket boots to shoot straight up into the air and narrowly dodge Mach IV's tackle attempt. "Wow, and people say I like to rush in head on," muttered Iron Man as he pointed both of his open palms down at Mach IV and fired two repulser blasts.

Once Mach IV stopped himself, he looked over his shoulder to see the blasts coming down towards him, and thus spun around, held up both of his hands to create an energy energy barrier which successfully blocked the blast. Afterwards, he shot straight up into the air like a torpedo and zoomed straight towards Iron Man himself.

Up above, Iron Man fired more repulser blasts, this time with a increase charge of power and hoping that it'll be too much to handle for the winged Thunderbolt's barrier, but is disappointed when he saw his blasts bounce off of it. Once he see Mach IV come close enough, the Armored Avenger had no choice but to stop firing his blast, then held his right arm right in front of him, then mentally activated an energy shield from his gauntlet.

Finally, Mach IV rammed his barrier up against Iron Man's shield, and once they made contact, it caused both of their respected shield's to burst and create a shockwave when sent the Shellhead flying backward.

It was until Iron Man fired his repulser blast downward in conjunction with his jet boots that he was able to stop him himself, despite being knocked loopy. "Okay," said Iron Man as he shook his head. "That wasn't pleasant."

Inside the Armored Avenger's helmet, J.A.R.V.I.S. pulled up an image of the armor, with the right arm and chest area colored red, which indicated damage. _**"Not to mention that it caused fourteen percent damage to the upper armor, sir,"**_ he reported. _**"Thankfully though, it wasn't enough to create openings and allow the radiation to leak in, however..."**_

"Yeah, yeah, I know, 'exercise caution'," Iron Man chimed in. "I know you mean well buddy, but I didn't program you to be a broken record!" The Shell-head then saw Mach IV, without his energy barrier, flying straight towards him and fires a semi-automatic laser beams from his right gauntlet. Luckily for Iron Man though, he flew downward and easily avoided the blast by flying around in a helix patter, like wrapping outside of a barrel, all the while flying straight towards Mach IV. Once he got close enough to his opponent, Iron Man wound up his right fist and gave the Thunderbolt a mean right hook.

Though he was knocked senseless at first, Mach IV recovered fast enough to see Iron Man going for a left cross and thus held up his left arm to block the blow. Afterwards, he countered by taking his right hand, holding it in front of Iron Man's faceplate and upon opening it, it caused a flash of light, which blinded the Shellhead. Now in control, Mach IV took advantage of this by using both of his feet to kick the disoriented Iron Man's chest-plate, sending him reeling backward in the process as well as use him as a boost to perform a backflip. Once he was right side up and a good distance away, Mach IV mentally commanded a small launcher to right from out of his right shoulder and fired a small missile at the dazed Shell Head.

Fortunately for Iron Man though, he recovered quick enough to see the missile coming his way, and thus held up his left gauntlet to produce another shield, and though it blocked it, the impact was so powerful, it sent the Shellhead flying down and crashing through the wall of a nearby building and ending up crashing into a work desk. "Well," said Iron Man, straining to sit up. "Nice of that guy to remind me that he and buddies are fighting dirty."

 ** _"Indeed, sir,"_** said J.A.R.V.I.S., with the image of Iron Man's armor showing his left arm now glowing red. _**"So much so, that it's taken out your one remaining shield."**_

Though he knew J.A.R.V.I.S. was only trying to help, Iron Man couldn't help but grow aggravated with his trusty A.I., who as far as he was concerned, was starting to sound like a nagging mother. "Nice of you to keep track."

 _ **"One of us has to,"**_ J.A.R.V.I.S. replied in his usual quirky manner.

As Iron Man tried to get back up, he looked straight ahead and through the window, he saw Mach IV hovering in the air, and to make matters worse, saw that the winged Thunderbolt has his shoulder cannon drawn, locked, loaded and ready to fire. But rather than be worried, Iron Man just narrowed his brow in concentration. "Two can play that game, fly boy," he said determined, then held up his right hand, which caused a small compartment to open and out pops a small launcher that fired a small missile, which ended up hitting and destroying Mach IV's shoulder cannon, causing it to explode on impact.

As for Mach IV himself, he is naturally shaken by this, but even more surprised when he spotted Iron Man himself fully recovered and flying straight towards him. Once the Armored Avenger burst through the window, Mach IV desperately held up both of his hands out in front of him and caught Iron Man by his shoulders, preventing his opponent from tackling him. The winged Thunderbolt then counterattacked by placing his right foot on Iron Man's chest plate, then flipped backward and gave the Shell head an airborne stomach throw, which sent him flipping forward uncontrollably, then crashing into the ferris wheel in front of the City Center Gymnasium.

This in turn caused the abandoned ride to fall to the ground, creating a large dust cloud which covered the entire area. Once all the dust cleared, Iron Man laid on top of the rubble until slowly sat back up and shook his head. "This obviously isn't going well."

Suddenly, Mach IV hovered over the fallen Iron Man, then pointed his laser gauntlets down at him. "Iron Man? More like 'Scrap Man!" he said with a grin behind his helmet. "Or at least you will be when I'm done with you!"

For Iron Man, hearing his airborne opponent take a jab at witty banter was almost as painful then any other injury he suffered since first donning the armor. And so, with an embarrassed grown, he powered up his jet boots and flew up into the air and just a few feet away from Mach IV, taking the Thunderbolt by surprise. " 'Scrap Man?' Well, congrats pal, you actually made me miss hearing Hawkeye's jokes." said Iron Man, then smirked behind his faceplate as he continued. "Still, not as bad what you called yourself before Osborn gave you that costume make over. What was it again...Cockroach man, or something like that?"

It was here that Mach IV calm nature soon turned to anger. For not only was he reminded of his failures as the Beetle, but that this 'pompous rich boy' in an iron suit couldn't even get the name right! As such, he began zooming towards Iron Man all the while firing his lasers at him.

As for Iron Man himself, he easily evaded the blast as he flew towards Mach IV. "Geez, and I thought Hulk was touchy!" he said to himself, then held up his right hand and fired a repulser blast, forcing Mach IV to stop and flip backward to dodge it. The Golden Avenger in place as he waited for Mach IV to flip right side up and thus the two armored flyers of their respected teams were now face to face. "Cool you're jets, pal!" said Iron Man, then grew disgusted with himself once he realized what he just said. "Okay, that was bad even for me. But seriously, I remember the times you called yourself 'the Beetle', and more importantly, I remembered all the times I kicked your sorry butt all the times you tried to rob a bank or steal from government facilities! Bottom line, it doesn't matter what you call yourself, because at the end of the day, you are just plan bad at the whole 'flying man' gig, super-villain or other wise."

Having had enough of the Shell-Head's insults, Mach IV flew towards him while firing more laser blast from his left gauntlet to which Iron Man easily dodged. However, he used this as a distraction to resort to 'plan B', more secretly pressing a small button in his right palm and popping out a small, circular device from out of his right gauntlet, which was a gift he received from the engineers at S.H.I.E.L.D. earlier today. Finally, on he got close enough, Mach IV threw the device underhand, which in turn, struck Iron Man's face plate which not only caused a blinding flash of light, but also sent him down to the abandoned amusement park below.

Not wanting to crash into the ground and leave himself wide open, Iron Man managed to control his fall by flipping backward and landing hard in a kneeling position, cracking the ground underneath him in the process. Though he saved himself, the Shellhead's vision was still a little blurry, and he started to shake his head to regain focus, all the while Mach IV is hovering above him with both laser gauntlets drawn and pointed at him once more.

"Not a good flying man, huh Stark?" said Mach IV with discontent, and keeping the kneeling Armored Avenger in his sights "Well, gonna have to disagree with you on that one. And in just a few seconds, so will the rest of the world!" With that said, Mach IV fired two blasts, with the target being Iron Man's buckle.

Luckily for Iron Man though, he heard the shots fired and with a little help from his jet boots, he quickly dashed backward to avoid the blast, and after stopping himself, flew straight up into the air until he ended up just above Mach IV himself. Afterwards, the Shell-head fought back by bending forward slightly, where he then mentally opened two compartments in both of his shoulders and dropped two bombs in a parabolic ark at Mach IV below.

For Mach IV, he could only shake his head and laugh on how idiotic this attack was, feeling that Iron Man must be getting so desperate, he would such a slow and easy to avoid tactic. As such, he held up his gauntlets and fired two blasts at the bombs coming his way. However, once the blast hit the bombs, they exploded, but in a large flash of brilliant white light, which in turned blinded the winged Thunderbolt and forced him to cover his eye lenses in pain. "My eyes!" he yelled.

Seconds later, as the light died down, Iron Man flew straight down with his knees pointing downward at the blinded Mach IV, then rammed both of them into the Thunderbolt's chest-plate, causing them both plunge straight down and crash into the amusement park, near the bumper cars. As the dust settled, Iron Man now found himself sitting on top of the fallen Mach IV and back in control of the fight. "That must've hurt," said the Shell-Head sarcastically.

Feeling the humiliation of not just his current state in the match, but from all the memories of his time as Beetle rushing back, Mack IV angrily powered his jet pack and sped backward on the ground, forcing Iron Man himself jump off of his opponent and rolled backward on the ground and into a kneeling position. Once Iron Man stood back up, Mach IV managed to flip backward and end up hovering a few inches off the ground and sixty feet away from the Golden Avenger. Suddenly, through the corner of his left eye, Iron Man spotted an old rundown bumper car, which already sparked to him as useful. Therefore, he used both hands to grab hold of the car, and thanks to his armored enhanced strength, he picked it up over his head and threw it at the newly recovered Thunderbolt.

However, Mach IV saw this coming his way and thus decided to unveil a surprise of his own. In that he popped out an energy based blade from his gauntlet, then slashed upward, cutting the bumper car in two as soon as it came close enough to him. Now with a new weapon, Mach IV rocketed straight towards Iron Man, then thrust his energy blade forward, once again targeting the Shell-head's buckle.

As for Iron Man, he just stood there in a defensive stance. "Okay, he's now mighty pissed and using a light saber. In other words, right where I want him!"

This in turn caused J.A.R.V.I.S. to interject. "I fail to see how this can possibly count as a good thing, sir."

Iron Man placed his open hands in front of him as he responded. "Well, mainly because this is as good as time as any to activate 'blue streak'."

Naturally, even for an artificial intelligence, J.A.R.V.I.S. seemed to be concern upon hearing this reply. "Sir, the blue streak blast has not even been properly tested yet."

'J.A.R.V.I.S., remember our 'running before walking rule!" Iron Man shot back, and soon grew concerned as Mach IV was now closer to him. "Activate it now!"

"Very well, sir," J.A.R.V.I.S. replied, and suddenly, the repulser blasters inside Iron Man's palms all began to glow bright blue, and just as Mach IV was now inches away from him, Iron Man held his hands over his head, and at that moment, formed a bright energy ball which produced long blue streaks to pop out in numerous areas. This turn not only hit Mach IV, but also appeared to lift him up and juggle him in the air and above the Armored Avenger, causing the Thunderbolt's armor to endure great damage, namely haven his wings broken off.

As the now wingless Mach IV landed hard on to the ground, and with the his armor heavily dented, Iron Man shuts off the 'blue streak' energy and lowered his arms as he turned and looked down at his fallen opponent.

"No...NO!" yelled the distressed, as well as beaten Mach IV. "This wasn't to happen! This was supposed to be my time to make you pay! My time to be famous!"

Iron Man, having had enough of Mach IV's whining, pulled his right fist back. "Yeah well, looks like your just gonna have to settle for famous!" A split second later, the Shell-head threw a downward punch which successfully connected with Mach IV's belt buckle, causing the yellow energy to spew out and freeze the Thunderbolt in place.

This resulted in the Ref Bot floating down and hovering right next to the now victorious Iron Man, pointing its screen at him for all the viewers around the world can see. "Ladies and gentlemen," said the voice of the announcer. "The winner of final match of the thirty second finals...IRON MAN!"

Though he heard and appreciated the crowd's cheers from the Ref Bot's screen, Iron Man himself still continued to look down at the frozen Mach IV. _"You got off easy, pal,"_ he thought angrily, then turned back to the Ref Bot to see the cheering crowd back in the Garden, and looked down on the bottom left of the screen to see the Thunderbolts' corner, namely the Iron Patriot. _"At least compared to what I have in store for Osborn!"_

**WINNER: IRON MAN**


	31. Chapter 31

**THE 16TH FINALS**

On the platform, there was a change of setting, meaning that there was a large, circular plastic tent surrounding the teleportation pads, with two men inside wearing what appeared to be radiation suits and carrying large, technologically advanced guns with tubes connected to large metal backpacks. It wasn't long before Iron Man finally arrive on the pads, where he was somewhat surprised to find himself inside the tent and two suited men waiting for him as opposed to his fellow Avengers.

Iron Man soon turned his attention suited men with their pack powered guns, not appearing to be the least surprised as to why they were there. "Let me guess, here to give me the hydroxl treatment after my little trip in Pripyat?" he asked them, receiving no answer from them, not that he needed one anyway. As such, he only opened his arms up to allow them to spray his arm. "All right, get on with it."

Both suited men wasted no time in spraying the contaminated Armored Avenger with their gas guns, with one of them saying this in a friendly tone. "This will only take a few minutes, Mr. Stark."

"Yeah, thanks for telling me what I already know, sport," Iron Man replied in a grumpy tone, wanting them to get this over with so the tournament can proceed and he can help defeat more of the Thunderbolts...and make his way to the Iron Patriot himself.

As for the Avengers, they looked through the plastic and watched Iron Man being sprayed, with Spidey himself looking somewhat bewildered. "Man, I know this tourney has been sending us to some crazy places, but sending Mr. Stark to Prpyat?"

A less than enthusiastic Hawkeye is the one to answer the Web-Head. "Yeah, well, Stark's wearing armor that can withstand damn near anything, kid, so don't lose sleep over him," he told his young teammate with pessimism in his voice. "Besides, we've got bigger problems of our own! We're not even halfway through this tournament, and we just lost seven of our teammates! Including Cap!"

The team looked at Ms. Marvel with surprised expressions on how she took charge. All except for the Wasp, who always knew that her old friend was the strong willed type and couldn't be more proud of her.

Also sharing in Ms. Marvel's resolve to beat the Thunderbolts was that of Spidey, who smiled big behind his mask. "You get no argument from me."

With the rest of the Avengers silently agreeing with the young Wall-Crawler, Wolverine just shook his head and groaned. "You're just easy to please, ain't ya, Web-Head?"

Hawkeye, over hearing the feral X-Man's words, answered this with a skeptic look on his face. "Yeah, well, he's twelve, what do you expect?"

Naturally, Spidey did not take too kindly to these words and thus confronted the headstrong archer. "First off, I'm seventeen! And secondly, Ms. Marvel's got a point! I mean,, it sucks that the Thunderbolts aren't making things easy, but neither moping is going to help us either!"

It was here that Ms. Marvel stepped in between Spidey and Hawkeye to prevent the two from fighting. "Cool it, boys!" she commanded, then briefly turned to Spidey. "Thanks for the support, kid, and you're right, moping won't help us stop Osborn and his gang of super-powered goons," she then turned her attention to Hawkeye, with an even more stern expression. "But neither is fighting among ourselves!"

"I'm not saying I disagree, Danvers!" Hawkeye replied sharply, then narrowed his eyes at the Web-Head. "I'm just saying that it wouldn't hurt for Bug Boy here to realize how much deep water were in and start taking this mess seriously!"

Spidey's usual calm and happy go lucky demeanor disappeared as he gave Hawkeye a scowl. "Trust me, Cupid, I take this more seriously than you know," he told the archer coldly, then turned his attention back to the Iron Patriot, knowing full well the true monster he was behind that armor. "A lot more!"

Seeing the Web-Head's change in mood worried Wasp greatly, thus causing her grow back to human size and place both of her hands on Spidey's shoulders. "Easy there, Web-Head," she told the young hero, as if to try and comfort a little bother, then turned to the rest of the Avengers. "Look guys, Carol's right! We need to focus on fighting the Thunderbolts, not each other."

Soon, the next Avenger to speak up is Thor, as he tried his hand at boosting team morale. "Wasp speaks the truth, Avengers!" he said loudly with his usual battle ready enthusiasm. "We must stay united and strong if we are to defeat these curs, and save our imprisoned comrades, as well as the rest of...!"

Suddenly, an embarrassed Ms. Marvel placed her hand on Thor's chest to make him stop talking. "I think we get the point, big guy!"

Though the arguing seemed to finally stop, Wolverine just shook his head at the antics of his 'part-time' teammates. "Can't believe I'm sayin' this, but I'm starting to miss Magneto right about now."

Back on the center of the platform, the announcer stepped in front of the plastic tent and back into the limelight to address the crowd. "All right folks, while we wait for Iron Man to...well, get cleaned up, let's go ahead and take a look at the next, spine tingling matches we have in store as we enter the sixteenth finals!" With the crowd now roaring in approval, the announcer soon pointed at the screen, which now showed the sixteenth final match brackets. "And we have:

MATCH 1: SPIDER-MAN VS. WOLVERINE

MATCH 2: IRON FIST VS. SURGE

MATCH 3: HAWKEYE VS. SCARLET SPIDER

MATCH 4: WASP VS. ATLAS

MATCH 5: LUKE CAGE VS. SWORDSMAN

MATCH 6: MS. MARVEL VS. YELENA BELOVA

and finally...

MATCH 7: THOR VS. THE IRON PATRIOT

As he continued, the announcer's happy demeanor soon turned into a sad one. "And unfortunately, as we all know, Captain America has been eliminated from competition due to his sudden illness. As a result, Iron Man had now..." Suddenly a mysterious man in a suit came running to the stage and stopped the announcer by whispering something into his ear, making his eyes grow wide with excitement. "I see..." he told them mysterious man, who gave himself a nod tan ran off the stage. "Uh, ladies and gentlemen, I've just been informed that S.H.I.E.L.D. has indeed found a replacement to take Captain America's place in the final match of the sixteenth finals, but I've also been told that he shall be revealed once said match-up begins. Henceforth, for the final match, we shall see Iron Man vs., um...'anonymous'"

The crowd cheered in approval on hearing that news, and sure enough, the names 'IRON MAN VS. ANONYMOUS' soon appeared at the bottom of the brackets.

Iron Man heard this announcement from the tent, and thus let out a scoff. _"Mystery opponent, huh?"_ he thought to himself. _"Okay Norman, I'll see who it is you've got in mind for me. Still doesn't change the fact that I'm coming for you!"_

Meanwhile, the rest of the Avengers looked up at the brackets and seemed to take note on who they were facing next. But out of all of them, it seemed that Spidey who appeared to be more disturbed as he saw that Wolverine was his next opponent. _"Great,"_ the thought discouraged Web-Head. _"New York's not so favorite Web-Slinger versus the X-Men's clawed killing machine...suddenly, fighting the Sinister Six again sounds really good about know. Still, aside from Cap getting sick, I can't imagine anyone else having worse luck than mine."_

Meanwhile, inside a huge hovership in the sky, the Hulk is being thrown into a wall by the Leader, who controlled his robotic suit and smiled with evil glee in hurting his longtime nemesis. "Tell me something, monster," said the Leader with his usual, superior demeanor. "How does it feel to be on the receiving end of the might of my latest exo-suit?"

After shaking his head to regain focus, Hulk looked straight at the Leader to give him this reply. "it's strong, but just like the rest of your toys...it's nowhere near as strong enough to take me down!" After letting out an angry snort, almost like that of a raging bull, the Hulk then held both of his fists up over his head, then pounded them into the floor, causing the entire ship to shake as a result, and cause the Leader's exo-suit to lose balance and fall on to one knee. Now seeing his chance to attack, the Hulk ran, then leaped towards the fallen Leader and tackled him to the floor. After pinning the suit down, the Hulk wound his right fist back and went to punch his large headed enemy's stunned face.

Not wanting the Jade Giant to bash his enlarged skull into the steel floor, the Leader desperately moved his right joystick, which made the suit's large right arm to move and grab Hulk's fist. Now with a firm grip on the green skinned powerhouse's hand, the Leader fiercely moved his joystick to the right side, which in turn, caused the suit's arm to toss and smash the Hulk into the floor like a rag doll. After legging go of the now disoriented Hulk's fist, the Leader piloted the suit into getting back up on its feet, then made it turn around and face the reeling Jade Giant himself, to which he raised the suit's left arm and threw a downward hook, intending to hit the Hulk's left temple and knock him out.

However, the Hulk recovered just in time to spot this, and thus responded by simply held up his left arm to block the punch, and with his other hand, threw a hard uppercut, so hard that when it made contact with the suit's left fist, it literally popped right out of the socket.

Even with the suits left arm gone, the Leader still refused to give up on his assault and thus used his right hand to once again try and give the Green Goliath another hook.

Fortunately for Hulk though, he saw this and used both of his massive hands to catch the punch, and with his superior strength, pull that arm out of its socket, literally 'disarming' the Leader's suit. Still holding on to the mechanical arm, Hulk swung it like a baseball bat, which ended up hitting the base of the Leader's suit and caused it to stagger backward and fall down to the floor.

While down, the Leader shook his head to recover from the impact, and as he looked up, he saw the Hulk had jumped into the air and was now coming down towards him. As such, he desperately brought the exo-suit's right leg up and used it to kick the Hulk before he could crush him, and sent him flying backward and spine first into a adamantium steel wall, with impact so powerful, it actually made a dent. Much to his dismay, the Leader could get the suit to stand up, seeing is how it now had no arms to help him in doing so. Thus leaving him no choice but to disengage the legs from the sockets and turn it into a pd once more. Afterwards, the large headed scientist decided to end this by pressing the buttons on the joysticks, which caused the base of the suit to glow green and fire an energy beam at the Hulk, who by this time was now on his feet.

The Hulk, on the other hand, saw this quickly and dashed to the left side, which caused the blast to burst through the wall into the cockpit, where the blast ended up hitting and destroying the auto-pilot control panel for the entire ship.

Needless to say, this did not sit well with the shocked Leader. "NO!" he exclaimed, hating himself on how he, the most brilliant mind on the planet, could make such a foolish error. One in which was now causing his ship to fall from the sky fast, and had no choice but to try and escape from he was to save his own life. And knowing full well that the Hulk would probably survive this blast, the large headed villain said this to his old enemy. "This isn't over, Monster!" he barked, then pressed a sequence of keys, which caused two side mounted cannons to pop out from the suit's side, fired two blast and ended up blowing a whole through the ceiling. With his escape route made, the Leader powered a large jet underneath his pod, causing it to rocket through the hole in the ceiling and out of the ship.

As for Hulk, as much as he wanted to chase after the Leader and smash him, he knew that Osborn was more important and couldn't afford to let anything slow him down. With this in mind, the Hulk turned to the left, ran towards the wall, leaped and plowed through it like it was cardboard, resulting in him leaving the now exploding hovercraft and fell towards an unknown destination.

Meanwhile, back in Nick Fury's safehouse in New York, the rescued Gwen Stacy stood in complete silence as she saw Nick Fury himself, as well as Misty and Sharon standing over the still comatose Captain America. Luckily though, Gwen had just entered the password she remembered from watching Harry and was able to help Nick and the others get inside Osborn's computer system and successfully find the chemical formula for the cure that they were looking for. Though she was happy in helping save Cap's life, Gwen was left utterly speechless as she saw that the X-Men's bulky, blue furred Dr. Hank McCoy, otherwise known as the Beast, wearing a lab coat and working hard on the quickly set up lab station, carefully mixing chemicals together as instructed from the formula Gwen uncovered. _"Okay, I have officially seen everything,"_ Gwen thought to herself in disbelief as she watched Hank pour a test tube of blue liquid and mixing it with red liquid inside a beaker, which when mixed together, changed it's color to purple, and was left shocked and amazed by how a brilliant mind can be stored inside a brutish, animalistic type body.

As for Nick, he stood there with his arms crossed and looking stonefaced as always. "How soon before that antidote is ready, Dr. McCoy?"

"Just two more minutes, Director Fury," Hank replied calmly as he gently poured half of the purple liquid into one test tube, one he reserved for Cap and placed it inside a specially placed table centrifuge. He then picked up another small test tube and poured in last of the batch to make ready for 'another' patient that Nick has in his company.

Nick, at the same time, raised an impressed eyebrow with Beast's progress."Well, I gotta say, Logan was right about you being the most dependable when it comes to science.

This statement made Hank sigh in annoyance as he poured the second test tube into the awaiting centrifuge. "Yes, well, I often think that it's a feat that Logan abuses sometimes," said Hank as he put the lid on the centrifuge and before turning it on, took a moment to look at the ill Cap. "But nevertheless, I'm quite happy to help."

Gwen continued to stand there silent smile to appear on her face. Mainly because for too long she's been hanging around the suppose heroes that were the Thunderbolts, who from whenever she saw them, mostly talked about money and how they loved the spot light and the special treatment that came with it, all and all caring more about the fame rather than helping people. No where near what a team of heroes should be. But while secretly admiring the heroes that were standing before her, Gwen noticed something strange through the corner of her left eye, as she seemed to catch a glimpse the bottom of a stretcher just behind a curtain, as well as hearing the beeping sounds of a heart monitor. And though the image was faint, she saw what appeared to be an elderly woman lying on the bed and breathing shallowly. Gwen had a feeling that maybe she should look behind the curtain, but her curiosity was too much for her to resist. And as, after making sure that Nick and the others weren't looking at her, Gwen quietly walked over and passed through the curtain and what she saw made her gasp in pure shock.

It was that of Aunt May, still comatose and hooked to a life support system.

"Oh my god, Aunt May!" Gwen exclaimed as she placed her hands over her mouth, but then heard what appeared to be people cheering, which prompted her to turn, walk over and look through the small opening of the curtain.

Sure enough, Gwen saw that the cheering was coming from that of the screen of the computer, which in turned showed a picture of Tony Stark as he communicated through the intercom system in his armor. "Fury, you're going to have to speak up," said Tony. "I can barely hear you over the people and the two guys in jumpsuits spraying me."

With a aggravated sigh, Nick nonetheless responded by raising his voice just a tad. "I said that McCoy is almost finished with the antidote which will save Cap and the Web-Head's aunt. Unfortunately, as far as getting evidence that would incriminate Norman, or on how to deactivate the nanites, it looks like Osborn's kid doesn't have that kind of clearance. Because when we tried to unlock that, we were denied access."

Though Tony was happy that Cap and Aunt May were about to be saved, he couldn't help but be just as annoyed as Nick upon not retrieving evidence that would help expose the armored leader of the Thunderbolts as the mad man he truly was. "Great, which only further proves that Norman is in the 'crazy but not stupid' category. But at least Cap and Parker's aunt will make it through this...for the time being, anyway."

From behind the curtain, a wide-eyed Gwen there in total disbelief from what she just heard. From hearing the 'Web-Head' nickname that was often associated with Spider-Man, with May Parker being here, and remembering all those times in which Peter would disappear whenever Spider-Man showed up, it didn't take her long to put all the pieces together. _"Now way..."_ thought the completely stunned girl. _"Peter is...Spider-Man?!"_  
  
 **END OF BOOK TWO**  
  
 **SPIDER-MAN AND THE AVENGERS WILL BE BACK IN THE 16TH FINALS**


End file.
